


Don't Think Twice

by Skyshadow3246, Wolfloner



Series: Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces [27]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blood Magic, Bottom Tony Stark, Canon-Typical Violence, Curses, Emotions, Family, Feels, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Magic, Magical Tattoos, Mild Blood, Mild Gore, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Loki (Marvel), POV Peter Parker, POV Tony Stark, Plot, Porn with Feelings, Possessive Behavior, Rescue Missions, Scarification, Soft and gay, Top Loki (Marvel), Vanaheimr | Vanaheim, Well - Freeform, a little bit, author is a ball of emotions, but it should be, for once it's not sexy, it's a little sexy, low-key Spideypool, send help, which isn't a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-18 12:24:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17580806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyshadow3246/pseuds/Skyshadow3246, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfloner/pseuds/Wolfloner
Summary: Loki gently pulled Tony's arm up to rest on the table, long fingers tracing over the light blue veins visible under Tony's skin. “Really, I'm doing two forms of the same spell,” he explained. “The first, the one I'm also going to use for Peter, is temporary. But being blood magic, it will bind the two of us. A small touch of my Seiðr into our mixed blood will help to keep the two of you safer.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just embracing my obsession with Kingdom Hearts at the moment, hence the title. I'm not even the smallest bit sorry.
> 
> ALSO: Strap in everyone! This is it, this is the endgame. The last fic in this storyline. We're gonna resolve the shit out of some stuff!
> 
> And some special thanks are in order!  
> Switchknitter, Buying_the_Space_Farm, and Dendrite_Blues for looking over this fic and assuring me that, no, it doesn't suck. And then helping me make it even more awesome.  
> Raven_Ehtar for helping with the sigil described in this fic (a sketch of which is linked in the end notes).
> 
> And literally every person in the FrostIron discord (see end notes for a link!) for their unwavering support and love. I'd list you guys out but they only give me 5000 characters for these notes.

_ You're only everything I ever dreamed _ __  
_ Ever dreamed of, ever dreamed of _ __  
_ You must be kidding me, did you really think _ _  
_ __ I could say no

—Utada Hikaru,  _ Don't Think Twice _

 

Loki's energy was positively frenetic the next morning. He paced back and forth across the room, explaining. “Of course he'd have wanted to go home!” He sounded painfully frustrated with himself. “If we were successful. If the curse was unraveled even a little bit. That's where I'd have gone, too.” 

 

That is what Loki had done, Tony realized. At his weakest moment, he'd returned to Asgard. For all of the unpleasant memories the place held, it was still his home. 

 

“But all this time, I was being so fucking egocentric that it didn't even occur to me that what I consider home and what Váli would consider home would be different places,” Loki dragged a hand through his hair.

 

It wasn't much longer before Fenrir was up and pacing as well, their energies feeding into each other. “If we know where he is, why are we just waiting around here?” Fenrir growled.

 

Tony had been largely quiet while they talked, but he could see when Loki started to spiral emotionally. He was so angry at himself, Tony couldn't stop himself from interfering.

 

So he got up off the couch and stood in Loki's path, bodily blocking his pacing. Loki growled at him out of hand before seeming to catch up with who he was growling at. 

 

Once Loki had stilled–or at least stopped pacing around, his fingers were twitching and Tony could see the small sparks of magic dancing around his agitated fingers–he reached up and cupped Loki's face between his hands and pressed a quick kiss to the god's lips.

 

Loki blinked. Their public displays of affection usually involved things like touching and brushing up against each other. Not kissing. And certainly not in front of the gathered gods (and Bruce).

 

“You need to calm down,” Tony started carefully. “If you're right and Váli's in Vanaheim, then we'll go find him. But we can't go into this half-cocked and without a plan.”

 

“He's my  _ son _ ,” Loki said.

 

“I know. And I–” he paused. Did he understand?  _ Really? _ He didn't have any kids, after all. And he couldn't just offer platitudes if he wanted to calm Loki back down. But he had plenty of people he cared about. People he'd be more than willing to rush headlong into danger for. “I don't know what all you're feeling,” he admitted. “But I know we need a plan.”

 

“The plan is to find our brother and shatter Odin's fucking curse,” Fenrir stalked closer.

 

“We need a better plan than that,” Tony didn't look away from Loki's conflicted expression. “There's a good chance that Váli is going to be fighting to kill us. We aren't. That's going to put us at a disadvantage.”

 

“There's also the matter of the solstice,” Hel spoke quietly enough that Fenrir had to stop growling to hear her. “Hopefully it will mean that Váli himself is stronger, and can do more to fight off the curse himself. But it could just as easily mean that he'll be even more dangerous than he was a few weeks ago.”

 

He could see the pain in Loki's eyes as he deflated. Tony hated it, but couldn't help the feeling of relief that they'd at least talked Loki out of racing off.

 

“You have the assistance of Asgard at your back, Brother,” Thor said solemnly, hand resting on Loki's shoulder, forcing one of Tony's hands to drop.

 

Tony braced for a show of Loki's anger, but none surfaced. Instead, Loki only sharpened his tone as he replied, his head turning towards Thor. “Asgard can assist me by staying out of my way.”

 

Thor's brow furrowed. “Loki, I–”

 

“I heard your apology, Thor. But that doesn't negate the fact that you threatened my children.”

 

Loki stepped easily away from the both of them. “What do you think, Sigyn?”

 

Sigyn was frowning. “I don't like waiting, but they have a good point.”

 

“Maybe I'll just go myself, then,” Fenrir snarled.

 

“Will you help Váli break the curse by yourself, too, Fen?” Hel asked, looking at him pointedly.

 

Fenrir's eyes narrowed. Glaring at Hel he flopped on the floor with a loud curse.

 

Tony waited a few moments before speaking again. The lack of obvious action was going to get to Fenrir and Loki sooner than it did the rest of them, but it was only a matter of time before he'd be faced with at least four deeply stressed out gods. “Ok, JARVIS. I need you to start going over the footage from the fight with Váli. We're gonna compile everything we know about his abilities and how to counteract them.”

 

Loki looked up and green eyes held his for a moment. “We know he's able to pass on a version of Odin's curse.”

 

“And that's probably the biggest threat, right?” With a wave of his hand JARVIS projected a monitor onto the nearest wall. “So we've seen him get to Peter, Deadpool, and, uh. What'd you call them, Thor? The cockerels?”

 

“That's right,” Bruce answered instead, rising to his feet to join Tony by the monitor. “And the first one, Fjalar, was also able to spread a version of the spell, correct? That's what happened to Peter.”

 

Tony faltered. “Fuck. This situation could have been so much worse.”

 

“The good news, as it were, is that the spell will only work once per person,” Loki offered.

 

“Are you sure?” Tony asked.

 

“Very sure. That's why Váli wasn't able to curse Peter again when he tried.”

 

Something painful tightened in Tony's stomach. This curse was definitely the biggest threat. “Ok, so, those five.”

 

“There's also the possibility that the armored man was similarly cursed,” Loki provided.

 

“Armored? You mean the ball guy from the pier?”

 

“I do, yes.”

 

Tony had to remind himself that that wasn't a fight worth having. Except that Loki had been rather insistent that there had been no other options for neutralizing him.But this wasn't the time or the place. 

 

“Ok, JARVIS, add Ball Guy to the list.” An image of the armored sphere appeared alongside the three roosters, Peter, and Deadpool. 

 

“Váli is formidable even without the curse at his disposal,” Hel pointed out. “His form as a  _ Vargr _ is difficult enough, but he also has a powerful command over fire magic.”

 

“But the last time we saw him, he wasn't in the form of a  _ Vargr _ . He was only a child,” Sigyn pointed out.

 

“Best case, that means we weakened the curse,” Loki said.

 

“What's the worst case?” Tony asked.

 

“That he was only trying to lower our guard so that he could steal the cloak.”

 

“We already knew he was able to shift between the two forms.” Thor was quiet as he finally spoke.

 

“Did we?” Loki growled.

 

“Shit. Yes.” Tony nearly growled at himself. He was maybe spending too much time with Giants. “J, pull up that cell phone footage.”

 

The assembled group watched as the two men were shot with bright white arrows before the camera swung around to catch a glimpse of something red. Something much smaller than a wolf.

 

Loki sank down onto the couch, staring at the footage as it looped.

 

Fenrir looked around at their somber faces, his tail sinking down. “What?” He asked.

 

“So there's a chance we didn't actually do anything at all?” Sigyn asked.

 

“I don't believe that's the case,” Hel spoke with a surprising amount of force. “The cockerels and Wade only stopped when we made them stop. They didn't flee.”

 

“That's true,” Loki considered. “Everyone else has been rather single-minded in their attempts to kill us.”

 

“Except Peter,” Bruce added. “He never became violent.”

 

Tony turned and looked at Loki. “Do you think that's just because the curse was from the chicken? Like it was diluted?” 

 

“That's not how spells work,” Sigyn insisted.

 

“But Peter is something of an outlier.” Loki ran a hand through his hair. “Everyone else has become irrationally violent. But Peter's mind broke in a completely different way.”

 

“Does that say more about Peter or the curse?” Bruce asked.

 

Loki was frowning. “I don't know.”

 

“Why don't we just ask, then?” Fenrir suggested, turning away from the video feeds on the monitor. 

 

“What?” Loki asked. “Oh. That's.” His frown deepened. “Ok. Yes. That would probably be best.”

 

* * *

 

The next day found them in a room that had hardly seen any use in a while, what with the general lack of threats needing more than two or three Avengers on the scene. It was, in effect, a conference room.  _ A War Room _ , Steve had called it once.

 

Thor had returned to New Asgard, but Bruce had stayed behind. 

 

“Boy does this feel like an intervention!” Wade chirped merrily as he followed Peter into the room. The two of them quickly took in the group of gathered gods and the monitors filled with as much information as they'd managed to compile thus far. 

 

Peter shrugged off his coat, rolling his eyes at Wade's comment. “No it doesn't. Have you ever been to an intervention?”

 

Wade grinned and made no move to remove his jacket. “Have you?”

 

“If you two are done?” Tony asked from the other side of the room. “We're pretty sure we know where Váli is.”

 

“That's great!” Peter's eyes brightened just as Wade's expression darkened. “Where?”

 

“We think it's likely he's in Vanaheim,” Hel said.

 

“Which is–”

 

“One of the nine realms, home to the Vanir gods, we know,” Wade interrupted Loki's explanation.

 

“You do?” Loki asked, looking as startled as Tony felt.

 

“Well, yeah?” Peter pulled out a chair and sat down. “After meeting Hel and Fenrir and going to Valhalla, we went home and looked stuff up. We wanted to have some idea of what else might run into.”

 

Wade looked infuriatingly smug as he sat down next to Peter. “There are a ton of books on the subject, after all. What sort of idiot wouldn't look shit up?”

 

Bruce wore a bemused expression, and the gods looked pleased that Peter and Wade had taken the time to do their research, so Tony shoved down his urge to snap at Wade. 

 

“Right,” Tony huffed. “As we were saying, we're pretty sure Váli is in Vanaheim. And we're trying to come up with a game plan for when we head there ourselves in a few days.” He caught the odd expression on Loki's face as he spoke, but didn't have time to question it before Wade was talking again.

 

“So you called me. Smart. Good thinking, Stark.” Wade crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. Tony could nearly see his face properly with the change of angle, light sneaking under the hood of his jacket.

 

“Don't be a wiseass,” Tony grit out. “We need to know more about the curse that Váli can use. And you two are the only ones we can ask.”

 

Wade, to his credit, actually looked serious at that. “What do you need to know?”

 

“Well,” everyone's focus turned towards Loki. “We've seen 7 beings affected by the curse. Everyone but Peter has reacted by becoming violent.” Tony didn't like the anxious look on Peter's face.

 

“So you need to know that it was like for me?” Peter asked. 

 

“If you don't mind recounting it for us.”

 

Peter's fingers drummed on the table as he thought. “Everything was… too much? All my senses just went completely haywire,” he explained. Wade's smug expression had completely vanished and he was watching Peter carefully. “I couldn't see or hear. Well. That's not true. But I couldn't make anything out. It was just light and noise. Too bright and too loud.”

 

“Pete, you don't have to–”

 

“They wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important, Wade.” Wade frowned but didn't try to interrupt again. “Sight and sound are the easiest to explain, but everything was like that. Smell, taste, touch. I think my sense of balance was all messed up too? And.” He swallowed again, one hand dropping off the table and reaching out towards Wade. 

 

Seeing how comforted Peter was by Wade just linking their fingers together was confusing. Maybe it shouldn't have been. 

 

“And I'm pretty sure everything hurt. Like, everything hurt and then my body was freaking out on top of that. I don't really know how else to explain it.”

 

“You don't have to,” Bruce assured him quickly. “Thank you, Peter.” Wade glared daggers at Tony and Loki, presumably for asking Peter to relive that memory. “And several of us saw the effect the curse had on you. You basically shut down and were unresponsive to any other stimuli until Loki broke the spell.” Peter nodded his agreement.

 

“Wade?” Loki prompted after a moment.

 

Wade didn't look like he really wanted to share. He was chewing on his lip and staring determinedly down at the wood grain patterns of the table.Tony swore internally as he realized how bothered he was seeing Wade so distressed. It was  _ Wade  _ for fuck's sake. He'd be fine. 

 

Except something about Wade's expression made him seem smaller. Younger. It was easy for him to forget that under his loud, brash, obnoxious behavior, Wade wasn't all that old. “No one's holding what happened against you,” Tony told him, speaking softly.

 

The younger man looked like he had a ready-made answer for Tony's comment, but he held it back. “It was confusing,” he eventually offered. 

 

He watched as Peter shifted their chairs closer until he could press their shoulders together. 

 

“It wasn't at all like what Petey described. Nothing hurt. Well, nothing new hurt. I didn't recognize Peter, except as a…” he waved his free hand idly. “As a target.” He finally admitted. “It wasn't even a violent urge, necessarily.”

 

“Since when is shooting someone not violent?” Tony asked before he could stop himself, wincing at the harshness of his own voice. “I'm not trying to be an asshole, Wade, but I can't think of shooting someone as anything but violent.”

 

Wade just shrugged. “I don't know how to explain it. But there's a difference. That was just killing.”

 

Tony frowned and blew out a long breath. “Ok. I'm just going to have to believe you. What else?”

 

“I don't know. I was pretty much just focused on taking out the target. And then my target knocked me out and then all I remember was trying to get free of the webbing.”

 

“Does that tell us anything?” Bruce asked Loki.

 

“It doesn't clarify anything,” Loki sighed.

 

“Well, how sapient is Váli right now?” Wade asked. “The chickens just wanted to kill us. I only got the chance to want to kill Peter. But Peter shut down. Was that intentional? The chicken is the one that cursed Peter–and wow I can't believe I just said something like that with a straight face–did it do it with intent?”

 

“Those are good questions,” Hel said. “And difficult to answer. The cockerels aren't terribly sapient at the best of times. Their lives involve eating, drinking, and waiting for Ragnarok.”

 

“So, not much in the way of higher brain functioning?” Wade hummed thoughtfully. “Ok. What else are we working with?”

 

“What?” Tony asked.

 

“Aside from mindrape, what else can he do?”

 

“Fire and archery,” Fenrir supplied. “And there's a good chance he can shift between his normal and  _ Vargr _ forms.”

 

“Does this curse have any range, or is he just limited to getting up close and personal in a fight?”

 

Before long Wade stood up and used one of JARVIS's monitors to take notes. Not just on Váli's abilities, but everyone else's as well. 

 

Tony shook himself when he realized he'd just started nodding along with Wade's suggestions. For all his faults, the man was surprisingly adept at pinpointing the group's strengths and weaknesses and devising a coherent strategy.

 

“What exactly are you going to be doing during all of this?” Tony finally asked.

 

“I'm going to be holding down the fort here,” Wade replied simply.

 

“You aren't going to come?” Loki asked, looking surprised. 

 

Tony had been ready to just assume that Wade was staying behind since there wasn't anyone to kill on this mission, but, “You don't want me to come.” Wade's admission was quiet.

 

It took Peter's lack of surprise by Wade's comment for realization to sink in. Váli, cursed or not, had turned Wade into a weapon. And then used him against Peter. And Wade wasn't exactly the forgiving type.

 

“We don't know how long this is going to take,” Peter said. “I can stay behind and–”

 

“No. You're an important part of the plan, Spidey. So go help that kid get his mind back. And… I'll get my shit together in the meantime.”

 

Tony rolled his eyes to stave off his sigh when Peter's fond smile turned into a brief kiss. He'd never admit it aloud–at least not to Wade himself–but Wade and Peter were probably a good influence on each other. Sometimes. A little bit.

 

Loki cleared his throat. “We aren't leaving right away,” he explained.

 

“Why not?” Fenrir demanded.

 

“If we follow Wade's plan, which we seem to be doing, that means we're taking two mortals with us to fight a god who wants nothing more than to kill us.” Bruce had already made it abundantly clear that neither he nor Hulk were interested in joining that adventure. “I need to make sure they'll be as safe as possible.”

 

“How are you going to do that?” Peter asked.

 

“Protection spells. One of which I need an ingredient for.”

 

“An ingredient?” Tony echoed. He tried to remember any time any of Loki's spells had needed anything external to work and came up blank. “How long will it take you to get?”

 

“Assuming nothing goes wrong? A few hours at most.”

 

“From our perspective or yours?”

 

Loki smirked at the question. “Mine. Hopefully the timelines won't be too out of sync.”

 

* * *

 

“You missed Christmas,” Tony said accusingly as soon as Loki appeared in his lab.

 

“Did I?” Loki tilted his head to the side, glancing around the lab, probably trying to judge how long he'd been gone. “You aren't religious, why do you care about Christmas?”

 

“You don't have to be religious to like holidays that involve food and spending time with people.” He crossed the room and pulled Loki into a hug. “You get what you were looking for?”

 

“Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't think I'd be away so long.”

 

“It was only for a few days, no big deal.” Loki gave him a disbelieving look. “No, really. I've slept and everything.”

 

“For more than just a few hours?”

 

“Yep. I mean, Bucky might have hung out in the lab with me until I fell asleep the last couple of nights, but still. I slept.”

 

Loki's arms wrapped around him, holding them close together. “Good. I'm glad.”

 

“What about you? How long were you gone from your perspective?”

 

“A few hours, like I'd said.”

 

Tony hummed. “Do you need to rest before we get on those protection spells then?”

 

The god nuzzled against his neck, lips pressing against the mostly faded bruise that decorated his throat. “No, I'm fine. We do need to talk about them first, though.”

 

“Or we could not do that?” Tony tilted his head in offering and Loki smiled against his neck. 

 

“Don't be a brat,” Loki chastised, kissing him before stepping back. “These spells involve blood magic. And you're going to be something of a guinea pig for them.”

 

He frowned as he tried to decide which of those things he wanted to ask about first. “Guinea pig?”

 

“Unless you'd prefer I test the spell on Peter first.”

 

“Now who's being a brat?” Tony asked, returning to the bench he'd been working at before. He gestured to the seat next to him and waited until Loki sat down to speak. “Ok, tell me about the spells. And what blood magic is. What makes it different from other spells you've done?”

 

Loki gently pulled Tony's arm up to rest on the table, long fingers tracing over the light blue veins visible under Tony's skin. “Really, I'm doing two forms of the same spell,” he explained. “The first, the one I'm also going to use for Peter, is temporary. But being blood magic, it will bind the two of us. A small touch of my  _ Seiðr _ into our mixed blood will help to keep the two of you safer.”

 

Tony nodded. That made as much sense as most of Loki's magic talk tended to. “In what way am I a guinea pig? Has this sort of magic not been used on humans before?”

 

“It has,” Loki thumbnail trailed along one of his veins. “But not by a Jötunn.”

 

“Being a Giant hasn't caused problems with any of your other spells, has it?”

 

“Not really, no.”

 

“Then it should be fine,” Tony smiled reassuringly. “So let's give it a try. How does it work? What was the other ingredient you needed to go find?”

 

Loki visibly relaxed at Tony's curiosity. “The other ingredient is for the second spell. A rather permanent version of this one.”

 

“Oh yeah?”

 

“Mmhmm. Do you recall when I said that I wanted to burn my essence into you?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That's part of what the spell will do. Burn our essences into each other.”

 

“With literal burning?”

 

“Not of us, no.” When Tony gave him a confused look, Loki cupped the side of his face with one hand. “One thing at a time?”

 

Tony pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he thought. He definitely had more questions about the second spell. “Ok, one at a time,” he agreed. “What do we need to do for the first one?”

 

“For your part, it is just a simple exchange of blood.”

 

“What about for you?” 

 

“I told you. I'm gifting you some of my  _ Seiðr.  _ And taking in a little of yours in return.”

 

“Like a blood oath?” Tony asked.

 

“Of a sort. Except that blood oaths can be sworn between any two people. These spells cannot be.” He closed the distance between them, pressing a soft kiss to Tony's lips. Much softer than Tony really wanted, given that they hadn't seen each other for several days. “I'm able to perform these spells only because of the affection we hold for each other.”

 

Loki summoned a knife to his hand. Not the one that Tony had made him, he noted. It was small and silver, and a thin line of blue metal running up the center of the blade was the only notable adornment that Tony could see.

 

“You're not going to cut my palm are you?”

 

“I wasn't planning to. The specifics of  _ where _ I cut you are unimportant. Do you have any preferences?”

 

“Uh. How much blood do you need?”

 

“Just a few drops.”

 

Tony shrugged and stretched out the arm that was still on the table. “Wherever is fine then, I guess.”

 

He made himself still as Loki's free hand braced his forearm, holding it in place. The actual cut was small and quick, only eliciting a brief wince. That didn't stop Tony from wincing again, now in sympathy, as Loki mirrored the movement on his own arm. The god held their arms together, holding Tony's gaze as he did so.

 

It was a moment before Tony felt anything but the sting of pressure on his arm. But then it was like someone had injected ice water directly into his veins. His reflex was to try to jerk away, but instead he just grit his teeth and held still. 

 

As soon as Loki was done and had pulled his arm away, the familiar  _ warm-safe-comfort _ of Loki's healing magic knit the small cut back together. Tony could still feel the cold of Loki's blood and  _ Seiðr  _ as it worked its way through him.

 

“That's weird,” he announced as it wound its way down his spine.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

“Kind of? It's really fucking cold,” Tony laughed a little as he spoke. “Not too bad, though. What does it feel like for you?”

 

“Your blood is very warm,” Loki said simply. “It was more surprising than painful.”

 

“Good. How long does that last anyway? You said it was temporary.”

 

“Very temporary. The effect should disappear within a year or so.”

 

Tony blinked. “Loki, a year isn't  _ very temporary _ from a human's perspective. I was expecting like a week or something.” He paused. “Not that being bonded to you like this for a year or so–or permanently– is a bad thing. But you should probably give Peter a heads up.”

 

“I will.” 

 

“Ok, we're done with the first thing. Second thing now. Walk me through the other spell we're doing.”

 

Loki smiled. “This spell will properly bind our  _ Seiðr, _ and our... life force, so to speak.”

 

“So to speak? Are you talking about souls?”

 

“If you'd like to call it that, yes.”

 

Tony frowned. He didn't think he believed in souls. Of course, until a few weeks ago, he hadn't believed in an afterlife, either. He just sighed and filed that idea away to ruminate on later. “Okay. We're gonna bind our  _ souls _ together. Go on.”

 

“You should know that while it's possible to break this spell, it's very difficult. Even after death, we would be linked.”

 

“I mean, I'm already functionally immortal now, right?” Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I figured that made us kind of bound together anyway.”

 

The sound Loki made at his comment was unlike anything Tony had heard him make before. It was almost a  _ purr. _

 

At Tony's grin Loki cleared his throat and the sound stopped immediately. “As I was saying. We will be linked together unless we, or someone else, breaks the spell. It's very difficult to undo even if we both consent to the unraveling. Even if only one of us wants to keep the spell..." he trailed off.

 

“I'm not going to change my mind,” Tony assured him. “Fuck, sometimes I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that you want–” Loki cut off his train of thought with deep claiming kiss. “You keep that up and we're going to get distracted.”

 

“I won't let us get off topic,” Loki smiled before his expression turned more serious. “This spell involves scarification. It requires us to cut symbols into each other, and then rub this,” he produced a cloth bag into his hand, “into the cuts.”

 

Tony eyed the bag warily. “What is  _ this? _ ” 

 

Loki opened the top of the bag so that Tony could see inside to the collection of ashes. That sounded decidedly unpleasant, if he was being honest. “Ashes from a tree that only grows in Asgard-That-Was.”

 

“If it only grows there, how'd you get it? Asgard was destroyed, right?  _ That-Was _ and all?”

 

“The land itself still exists,” Loki said, his eyes drifting down to stare at the ashes. “I visit there, from time to time, so I knew that at least one of these trees still grew.”

 

“Is that where you run off to all the time?”

 

“Not all the time, no. But frequently,” he admitted. “I try to find anything that's left. Anything worth trying to salvage.”

 

Tony let out a long breath. “How successful are you?”

 

“It depends on the day.”

 

“Do you want help?”

 

The god looked back up at him then. “You'd help me?”

 

“Yeah? Of course I would.” Tony couldn't understand Loki's surprise. “Why wouldn't I?”

 

“Because–” Loki cut himself off. “Nevermind. Thank you. I'll consider your offer.”

 

He wanted to argue. To find out why on Earth Loki would think he wouldn't help with something like that. But before he could corral his thoughts enough to figure out what to say, Loki was speaking again.

 

“The specifics of what we cut into each other aren't regimented, except that they must be representative of the person doing the cutting.”

 

Tony frowned but allowed Loki to shift the conversation back to the topic at hand. And then the weight of what Loki had just said sank in.. He was being expected to cut into Loki's skin. To leave a scar. Or something more like a tattoo, perhaps, if they were rubbing ashes into it. 

 

Loki was asking him to  _ permanently _ carve something into his body that represented Tony. Something that would bind them together until they were dead. Or, apparently, even after they were dead.

 

“Are we getting married?” He asked suddenly.

 

Surprise flickered on Loki's face for just a moment before he laughed. “No, not–. This ritual is unlike any marriage ritual that I'm aware of. But I suppose some of the themes of the spell are similar. While it is a protective spell, it's also very… possessive.”

 

“Possessive.” Tony's eyes widened.

 

“Is that ok?” Loki's voice was quiet. Guarded.

 

“Yeah, no, it's... It's very ok.” He swallowed. “So, something that represents me? Like my name?”

 

“You  _ could _ use your name, I suppose,” Loki said, but it sounded like he found the idea distasteful. “Names have power, it's true, but they're hardly unique.”

 

Tony nodded. “Something unique and representative of me,” he pondered for only a moment. “I think I can do that. Is there anything specific I should be saying or thinking about while I'm cutting you?”

 

“There's nothing necessary. I'm more concerned with you just focusing on what you're doing.” Loki seemed to debate something for a moment. “I think you should do the cutting first, actually.”

 

“I should?”

 

“Yes. Because it will be easier for you to concentrate on what you're doing when you aren't in pain.”

 

“Isn't the same true for you?” Tony challenged.

 

“Yes,” Loki agreed easily. “But I'm more resilient than you.”

 

Tony huffed and stood. “Fair enough. Sit.” He pointed to the chair they'd used to replace his Arc Reactor. “And take off your shirt.” He didn't watch to see if Loki followed his orders. Instead he headed to one of the cabinets and retrieved several sterile scalpels, forceps, two body markers and plenty of gauze.

 

Loki rolled his eyes at the supplies he brought back. “You know those aren't necessary for me, right?” Tony just gave him his best  _ don't fight me on this _ look. “But alright, if it makes you feel better.”

 

“It does,” Tony asserted as he used his knee to shift Loki's legs further apart so that he could stand between them. He picked up the first marker and looked over the expanse of pale skin. “Where should I do this?”

 

“Wherever you like. The placement is of tertiary importance at best.”

 

“Fine. Where do you want me carving into your skin then.” He paused. “Where can I do it that won't fuck up your other tattoos?”

 

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but instead after a second his tattoos bled into being across his skin. 

 

Tony quickly squashed down his urge to  _ touch _ that always accompanied seeing Loki's tattoos. Instead he was pleased to find that Loki's chest was largely undecorated. He uncapped the marker and set to work drawing out the design on the center of Loki's chest.

 

“What is it?” Loki asked, trying to get a look at it.

 

“The first Arc Reactor. The one I built in Afghanistan. The design is pretty different because it was the most basic one I ever made. Just built out of scrap material and a conviction to not die.” With a few words he had JARVIS pull up both an image of the original Reactor, as well as the simplified design that Tony had drawn out.

 

“It's lovely,” Loki murmured. “And I believe it will suit our needs perfectly.”

 

“Good.” Tony relaxed a little. “You can hide the rest again, if you'd prefer.” He'd barely gotten the offer out before the scars and tattoos decorating Loki's body disappeared again. “Are you going to hide this one as well, after?” Tony asked, opening the packaging around the first scalpel.

 

Loki was frowning. “I don't necessarily want to,” he said slowly. “I'll have to really look at the spell I use to hide them. There's probably something I can do to be more selective about what I hide.”

 

Tony took a deep breath before moving more firmly between Loki's legs. He was quiet as he worked, trying to focus on keeping the depth of the blade consistent. Loki, he realized, was far better at holding still than he was. 

 

“Don't stop breathing,” he said quietly as he picked up the forceps and started peeling away top few layers of skin. “Tell me if this hurts too much.”

 

“It doesn't.”

 

He stopped his work for a moment. “Are you trying to tell me this doesn't hurt?”

 

“Of course it hurts,” Loki scoffed. “But it's manageable. And worthwhile. Besides, the rubbing will be worse “

 

Tony grimaced at the thought but didn't stop what he was doing. Aside from the occasional flicker of discomfort, it was hard to tell that Loki was really all that affected.

 

He tried not to think to hard about the small pile of skin that now sat on his work table as he reached for the bag of ashes. 

 

Loki did let out a hiss as Tony started rubbing the ashes into the wound. Tony bit his lip and reminded himself why he was doing this. That Loki wanted this, and had known that this would be physically unpleasant. 

 

“Are you ok?” Loki asked after he was done affixing bandaging to the site.

 

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?”

 

“I'm not the one that looks like they're about to pass out.” Loki reached forward and held Tony's shoulders to help steady him.

 

“I'm ok.” But Tony could hear how false the words sounded. He swallowed a few times before speaking again. “Don’t like hurting you,” he explained.

 

“It wasn't too bad,” Loki told him, standing and pulling Tony into a careful hug, one that didn't disturb the work Tony had done.

 

“I've shot you and seen you just laugh it off,” Tony countered. “This was–”

 

“A very different situation, Love.” Loki insisted, peppering his face with kisses until Tony couldn't help but smile. “If we were in battle, you'd have no idea you'd even touched me. But here, we're not in battle. And I'm safe to process what I'm feeling.”

 

Tony let Loki press him into the seat. “Should we wait a little bit for you to–”

 

“No. As I said, I'm alright. And ideally it's better if we don't wait very long.”

 

“Ok,” Tony agreed.

 

He watched as Loki pulled his arm back across the table, turning it so that his forearm was facing the air. Using the other marker Loki made quick work of drawing out… Well, Tony wasn't sure what it was. Something very angular, to be sure. 

 

“What am I looking at?” Tony asked, turning his head to see if a different angle might give him a better understanding of what he was seeing.

 

“A sigil,” Loki said simply. “It’s made up of six runes.” Tony didn't think it looked much like any runes he'd seen before. Instead it was one long shape along his arm. “Can't see them?”

 

“No.”

 

Loki lightly traced the runes as he explained, and Tony understood. They were woven together, each line part of the surrounding runes. “Thurisaz is a strong protection rune. Defence and regeneration. 

 

“Kenaz is a fire rune. 

 

“Gebo is,” he hesitated for a moment. “Sacrifice. Harmony between lovers and family.  _ That which has been exchanged between gods and men. _ ”

 

“Bit cheesy, that one.” But Tony was pleased all the same.

 

“Hush, Pet. Wunjo is a binding rune, binding both the spell and the rest of the sigil to their intended purposes. It also is used to strengthen bonds, both literal and metaphorical.

 

“Berkano is a favorite of mine. It strengthens the power of secrecy,” Loki ignored Tony's smirk. “And is used for concealment and protection.

 

“And finally, laguz. It's symbolic of life, vital power. It's used for guidance and to encourage magic and sorcery to be woven by one's will.”

 

“That last one is in your name, isn't it?” Of course Tony was intimately familiar with the runes branded into his leg. 

 

“It is, yes. As is kenaz.”

 

“And kenaz was… Fire, right? Fire and life. Someone thought they were being clever.”

 

Loki returned his amused look. “Are you ok with a sigil like this?”

 

Tony looked down at it, and at the sigil's intended placement. Right on his arm, for anyone to see. Unless he was actually wearing a long sleeved shirt, or his armor, he supposed.  _ Possessive _ , Tony reminded himself. “Yeah. I like it.” Being possessed. Being Loki's. And possessing Loki right back. Yeah, he liked it very much.

 

He wasn't nearly as good as Loki about holding completely still as Loki cut into him, but he did his best. It hurt, but no more than other things he'd done to himself in this lab. No more than Loki removing his outdated micro-repeaters had been. And Loki was good about noticing when the scalpel started to dull, and would swap to a fresh blade before the added discomfort had really sunk in. 

 

“Color?” Loki asked softly as he finished cutting the outline.

 

“Green.” Tony's dick twitched and he nearly laughed. That was some Pavlovian bullshit. 

 

He wondered if Loki somehow knew what had just transpired. The amused look on his face suggested he did. 

 

“The peeling shouldn't hurt much worse. But it is a very strange sensation.”

 

_ Strange  _ didn't begin to cover it. The first thought Tony had was that it was like someone was trying to pull out a large chunk of his hair by the root. But no hair was being removed. Well, that probably wasn't true, he reflected, as he watched in morbid fascination as Loki pulled away his skin, carefully easing the blade under it to separate it from his body without tearing.

 

“Is this how all of your other tattoos were done?” He asked.

 

“Most of them, yes.” 

 

“Have you–” He hissed and fell silent as part of his skin decided to be less cooperative than the rest. 

 

“Sorry. Have I what?”

 

“Um.” He took a steadying breath. “Have you done this before? You seem to know what you're doing.”

 

“I have.” Loki didn't offer any further insight, and Tony fell silent again, watching.

 

Once Loki reached for the bag of ashes Tony  _ really _ had to try not to think about the collection of gauze and flesh on his table. 

 

“Still green?”

 

Tony closed his eyes. “We've gone too far for me to want to turn back now.” Still, he reflexively jerked back when Loki started rubbing the ashes into this arm. “Holy fuck.” 

 

Loki let him pull his arm to his chest, and then just watched patiently until he dropped his arm back to the table. “Sorry. That, uh. Hurt more than I expected, I guess.”

 

“That's alright. Do you need a minute?”

 

“No. Fuck no. Just keep going.”

 

For the second attempt Loki used his now free hand to hold Tony's arm down. Tony grit his teeth and focused on breathing and not how fucking awful having something rubbed into an open wound felt. 

 

“You did very well,” Loki praised as he finished, carefully wrapping some of the gauze around Tony's arm.

 

“Liar.”

 

Loki snorted. “Don't be difficult. I'm not interested in just easing your ego, Tony.”

 

When he met Loki's eyes, he was pretty sure that Loki was telling the truth. About that, at least. “Is that it? Is something magic-y going to happen now?”

 

“Be patient,” Loki chided.

 

“No.” Tony grinned at Loki's annoyed expression. 

 

He didn't have to wait long, though. Through Loki's bandages, Tony could see a faint pale blue glow emanating. He smiled, liking how, at least for the moment, they matched.

 

Then his left arm prickled, and when he glanced down the cutting there was glowing as well. Green. The color of Loki's magic. Oh. And Loki was glowing with his. 

 

His arm also didn't hurt anymore, for which he was grateful. But once the glowing faded, nothing else seemed all that different. “Is that it?”

 

“I think so,” Loki said, pulling the bandaging from his chest. Oh, that's why he'd said it wasn't necessary. It was already healed over. A light blue tattoo to add to his collection.

 

Tony unwrapped his own arm. “You could have told me it was just going to heal,” he complained. “Then we wouldn't have wasted so many supplies.”

 

“I wasn't actually certain that it would heal like that,” Loki admitted, taking Tony's arm and admiring the green sigil.

 

“Oh. Right. I suppose that wasn't exactly a common spell.”

 

“No,” Loki agreed. “And I'm unsure if it's been attempted between a mortal and a god before.”

 

Well, Loki  _ had _ warned him that he was being a guinea pig for this. “Good thing it worked.”

 

“Yes.” Loki pulled him up from the chair and wrapped his arms tightly around him. 

 

Tony pulled Loki down into a kiss. It was hungry and messy and pretty much all he'd wanted since Loki had reappeared in the lab. He buried a hand in Loki's hair, knowing that Loki was only being still and pliant because he wanted to be. And wasn’t that an intoxicating thought?

 

Loki twitched as his free hand came up to trace along the fresh tattoo on his chest.”Still sensitive?” Tony asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Good.” He nipped at Loki's lip and pressed the pad of his thumb against the raised skin. 

 

The god hissed but didn't pull away. Instead he wrapped his arms more tightly around Tony's waist, trapping him there. 

 

Loki was his. Forever. The sort of forever that his human brain couldn't even begin to fathom yet.  _ “Mine,”  _ he whispered against Loki's mouth, hoping that he didn't completely botch the Asgardian word.

 

“It took you far too long to understand that,” Loki scolded. Or teased. He couldn't quite tell which Loki was going for. 

 

“I may forget again,” he admitted.

 

“Then I'll remind you,” Loki promised, his fingers digging into Tony's hips. “As many times as I have to. Until it's so ingrained in your mind that it's as natural as breathing.”

 

“Ok,” Tony agreed, kissing him again, every bit as desperately as before.

 

It was with a regretful groan that Loki eventually pulled away. “Tony, it's not that I don't want–”

 

“I know.” Which didn't mean he wasn't still the slightest bit disappointed. “Time to rally the troops?”

 

“Yes. But still, I'm sorry.”

 

“Hey. No big deal. We have forever now, right?” He stole one last quick kiss before grabbing his phone and texting Peter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh. This fic grew bigger than I was expecting. It's now going to be *at least* 3 chapters. Maybe 4. We'll see how long Chapter 3 gets, lol. <3

_ I really don't get what everyone else believes _

_ So why do I say things I don't really mean, really mean _

_ I'm only crying 'cause I never dreamed _

_ It'd take this long, it'd take this long _

—Utada Hikaru,  _ Don't Think Twice _

  
  


**Peter**

 

“Is everything ok?” Were the first words out of Aunt May's mouth when she answered her phone. 

 

Great, he was already worrying her. He probably should have expected it, as he wasn't in the habit of calling her in the evening. 

 

“Yeah, no, everything is good, I think.” Peter explained. He was swinging his legs, the backs of his shoes bumping the cabinet doors under his chosen perch on the kitchen counter. “I just. I promised I'd call before I did anything dangerous, and… I'm probably about to do something dangerous.”

 

“What kind of dangerous?” Her voice was so full of concern it made Peter's heart clench.

 

“I don't know. Maybe everything will be fine. Maybe–.” He paused. He didn't have time to explain everything. “You know the wolves from a few weeks ago? And how we said that the little one was scared and confused and all that?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Yeah, we're going after him. To help him out. The specifics are a really long story and I promise I'll tell you all about it after.” He suddenly hated himself. He could have swung over to see her within 10 minutes. He should be having this conversation in person. He clung to the phone as if he could somehow pass his desire to hold her across the line. “Time is weird, where we're going. I might miss our dinner tomorrow.”

 

May let out a sharp noise. “You had better not be saying goodbye.”

 

“I'm not. I swear. I promise. I'm coming back. I'm coming home.” He let the words spill out. “Wade made me pinky promise and everything.”

 

That got a not-quite-a-laugh. “He's not going with you?”

 

Wade was looking at him from over the back of the couch. They'd talked about it enough, and had agreed that Wade joining this particular adventure was a bad idea. But Peter wasn't inclined to share the details of that with Aunt May. 

 

“No, he,”  _ would kill the kid before anyone else had a chance to do anything.  _ “He's going to keep an eye on things here,” he said instead. 

 

Peter glanced at the time on his phone.  He should have made time. He's pretty sure they would have waited for him. He'll just have to make it up to her afterwards. 

 

“I love you, Aunt May,” he forced out, rather than put words to his regret. “I love you and I promise the first thing I do when I get home is call you, ok?”

 

She sniffed. “You'd better.”

 

After they hung up he just stared down at the phone. He hadn't even realized he needed a hug until Wade was there, wrapping him up in his arms.

 

“Keep her safe,” he whispered into Wade's shoulder. 

 

“I will,” Wade promised, pressing a kiss against his temple. “She'll be one of the two safest people in New York.”

 

Peter smiled despite himself. “You gonna let me get down?” 

 

Wade had slotted himself between Peter's legs, and was doing a good job of keeping him trapped.

 

“No,” Wade said seriously. “I'll just carry you over there.”

 

“You will not,” Peter snorted.

 

“Why not? You've carried me to The Tower before.”

 

He managed to feel annoyed for all of about 10 seconds before he recognized just how quickly Wade had shifted his attention. 

 

“Thank you.” He kissed Wade quickly. “Now seriously, let me down.”

 

Trust Wade to take a simple request and react as though Peter asked him to make some unimaginable sacrifice. 

 

It wasn't until Wade stepped back without fully releasing Peter's arm that he realized that was exactly what he was asking him to do.

 

“Wade.” As soon as his feet hit the floor he was back in Wade's space. “I'm coming back. I'll be safe and sound, and I'll have all my pieces.”

 

“If you do lose something we can replace it with one of mine.”

 

Peter blinked, taking a moment to process the mental image that Wade implied.

 

“Babe, that's very sweet,” because it was, even if it was also a tiny bit creepy, “but also very unnecessary. One, I won't lose anything. Two, if I'm lying and I do, I know some people who know a lot about prosthetics. There will be zero need to maim yourself, even temporarily.”

 

Peter looked towards the window and frowned. “I gotta go.” But when he turned away, Wade's hand found his wrist again.

 

“Wade.” He couldn't bring himself to be upset with his boyfriend's clinginess, not right then.

 

“What, you think I'm just going to let that sexy ass disappear without a proper send off?”

 

“So it's me who's carrying you to The Tower, then?” Peter smiled before pulling on his mask. 

 

“Or I could just run.”

 

He knew Wade couldn't really see him roll his eyes while his mask was on, but that didn't stop him from doing it. “Fine. Let's go.”

 

They had barely been in the air for a few seconds before Wade started whispering, “Thwip, and thwip, and thwip,” in time with him shooting out a new line of webbing. 

 

“Wade,” he chuckled. “I'm trying to concentrate here.” 

 

“And thwip–”

 

“I will drop you,” he warned. Better than the alternative of him losing focus and splatting them into a building or the ground. 

 

Wade quieted at his threat. They landed against the window that allowed him access to The Tower without any further incident but before Peter could move to open it, Wade whispered a final, “Thwip,” against his ear. 

 

“You're impossible,” he half-complained, pushing the window open and dropping into the room. 

 

“Hey JARVIS, where is everyone?” Peter asked, pulling his mask back off.

 

“Mr. Stark and Loki are waiting for you in the Penthouse, sirs.”

 

Wade let out a long breath as he followed Peter into the elevator. “I'll make sure that Queens is still in tip-top shape when you get back, Spidey. I won't take any jobs that need me to leave the city, and I'll do my best not to unalive anyone.”

 

He gave Wade a curious look at his phrasing. As far as he was aware, Wade hadn't killed anyone in months (not counting what happened in Valhalla). He wanted to ask but the elevator opened before he could, so all he said was, “As long as you do your best.”

 

“Good of you to finally join us.” Tony was pacing back and forth in front of the couch.

 

“Sorry, not sorry. I was letting Aunt May know that I might be gone a while.”

 

Tony faltered from whatever comeback he'd prepared for Peter's excuse. “Oh. That's… Yeah, that's good thinking.” His eyes slid past Peter and landed on Wade. “I thought you weren't coming.”

 

“I'm not. Just here to see Peter off. Wave a handkerchief, cry a little, all that.”

 

Loki, who was pouring over something in what appeared to be a leather bound journal, smiled a little at Wade's comment. Peter kind of hoped Wade had actually tucked a handkerchief into his pocket, if only to help cheer Loki up. 

 

“So, what's the spell situation?” Peter asked after Loki closed the journal. “Is that still something we're doing?”

 

“Yes. We tested it on Tony first, and everything seems to be fine.” 

 

Peter glanced over at Tony, who nodded his agreement.

 

“How does it work?” Wade asked before Peter had a chance to.

 

“It's blood magic. Peter, you and I will exchange a few drops of blood, which will temporarily bind our  _ Seiðr– _ our magic.”

 

“And that'll help keep me safe?”

 

“It should, yes.”

 

Peter hummed thoughtfully. “Ok, cool.” He crossed the room until he was standing next to Loki. “How exactly are you getting this blood?”

 

“A finger prick will suffice.” 

 

“Loki, you're forgetting a detail,” Tony said from where he'd resumed his pacing.

 

“Ah, right. This spell will last approximately a year.”

 

“You're going to be linked by blood with Peter for _a_ _year_?” Wade's voice was loud enough that Peter winced. 

 

“Wade, it's fine. It just means I'll be extra safe for a year, right?”

 

“Essentially, yes.”

 

“There, see. All good.” Peter pulled his glove off his left hand at patted Wade's arm. “Loki's not going to do anything to hurt me.”

 

Wade took a small step back but continued watching them like a hawk. 

 

Realizing that was as good as he was going to get, Peter held out his hand towards Loki.

 

Loki held his wrist with a gentle grip and pressed a fingernail against his skin until it split. His eyes narrowed in discomfort but he watched with rapt attention as Loki did the same with one of his fingers. 

 

His Senses picked up on the faintest hint of  _ dangerpainrun _ before Loki pressed their fingers together. 

 

Peter was momentarily bewildered as to why his Senses prickled at anything. It was a bit cold and uncomfortable, but it wasn't exactly painful. Except as Loki pulled his hand away and he looked down at his finger the sensation went from  _ a bit cold _ to feeling more like someone had injected him with liquid nitrogen. 

 

_ Except that would have killed me, _ he thought dimly as he tracked the… what? Blood? Spell?  _ Seiðr? _ as it coursed through his body. “Holy shit.”

 

“Weird as fuck, right?” Tony asked.

 

The sensation left as quickly as it started. “It was  _ something _ as fuck,” he agreed. “Weird is one word.”

 

“Are you ok?” Wade asked, grabbing his arm to inspect his finger.

 

“Yeah. I'm good, Babe,” he said quietly, his eyes on Loki. Loki looked less than ok. “Loki?”

 

“I'm fine.” The god flexed his fingers several times. “JARVIS, could you let the others know we're ready to go?”

 

**Loki**

 

Peter's blood was warmer than Tony's had been. An unpleasant sensation, but nothing he couldn't handle. Far more interesting was the chance to sense the color of Peter's  _ Seiðr _ . He had halfway expecting to see pulses of red, or possibly blue, surrounding the boy. Instead silver wisps of  _ Seiðr _ flowed around him. It was something completely different than he'd seen from any other humans. Usually they appeared as steady pulses of energy layered right on top of their bodies, rather than floating a few inches above. 

 

He would think about it later. For the moment he met both sets of worried brown eyes–Tony's and Peter's, Wade was far more concerned about Peter. “I really am fine,” he assured them. 

 

“About fucking time!” Fenrir stalked into the room.

 

“Fenrir.” Sigyn looked as though she'd had this argument several times over the last few days. Enough times that her correction was half-hearted at best.

 

“We were getting worried,” Hel explained. “You were gone for longer than we expected.”

 

“I'm sorry to have worried you,” Loki pulled Hel into a hug. After a moment he opened one arm and held it in Fenrir's direction. His son huffed before padding over and brushing his muzzle against Loki's hand. 

 

Wade, in fact, did have a handkerchief to wave as they stood in a circle to depart. Peter laughed so hard Loki was concerned about how well the boy could breathe. He broke the circle for a moment to run and give Wade one last hug and kiss. “You'll be the second person I call,” he whispered.

 

“For fuck's sake!” Fenrir snarled. “Get back here!”

 

“Sorry!” Peter returned to the circle. “I… yeah, sorry.”

 

“Close your eyes this time, Peter,” Loki warned. He waited to see Peter squeeze his eyes closed before stepping into the Realm Between Realms. Getting to Vanaheim was a much farther distance than he'd had reason to travel in a long time. But he still felt the draw of the place that had been his home for several hundred years. Fenrir and Hel's desire to return acted like a homing beacon, amplifying his own sense of  _ where _ to leave Yggdrasil's branches behind.

 

“Oh wow.”

 

“Holy shit.”

 

Loki glanced over at the two humans as they took in their new surroundings. 

 

“Everything is so colorful,” Peter's eyes were wide as he examined the purple and blue leaves around him. He had his phone in his hand and was taking pictures of the plant life surrounding them. 

 

“Peter, you can't–”

 

“Why not?” Peter cut off Tony's complaint. “It's not like anyone would believe me, anyway.” He looked up at Loki, “Is it like this everywhere? Why is the sky pink? How are Mr. Stark and I able to breathe–”

 

“We're not here to sight-see,” Fenrir growled, shoving his nose into Peter's back until the boy started walking forward after Hel and Sigyn. 

 

“We can come back sometime, right?” Tony asked as he fell into step next to Loki. 

 

“You're as curious as Peter.”

 

“Yes, but I'm better at prioritizing.”

 

Loki laughed at the claim, but didn't argue the point. He could do that another time. 

 

It was Fenrir's constant growls and nudges that kept the humans on task and walking down the path rather than stopping to stare up at Vanaheim's palace. He had been similarly awestruck the first time he'd seen it, in their defense. Rather than force the landscape to accommodate their desire for the structure, the Vanir had instead cooperated with the existing hills and mountain. They'd asked the trees for their assistance, and kept the plants alive and healthy in return. The interwoven stone and trees were like nothing Loki had witnessed anywhere else.

 

The Vanir had been amused at the enthusiasm he'd shown when asking how everything worked, and at his desire to  _ understand _ how they'd communicated with the life here. It wasn't a branch of sorcery that he'd ever tried to practice, but that didn't stop him from wanting to learn how it worked. 

 

He frowned as he looked around, a pang of homesickness taking him by surprise. The palace wasn't his home. It never had been. Although he had been welcomed within the walls, he had refused to build a life within them.

 

But as they walked further away from the palace, the closer they got to the cottage he and Sigyn had shared with their children. He was aware of Tony and Peter bouncing ideas and theories back and forth about nearly everything they saw. Debating if they might be able to get permission to gather samples to study in the future. 

 

He tried to listen, maybe respond, but instead memories crept into the edges of his mind, making it hard to focus on their conversation. 

 

A young brown haired god with golden eyes that seemed to catch sight of everything around him. Clever and impatient and unerringly kind. 

 

Then a boy with fiery red hair that was constantly trailing behind one or more of his siblings. Quiet, but more than happy to show off his skills when he had a willing audience. 

 

Images of snakes and wolves and a young girl joined the two boys. Hunting and roughhousing and sharing meals and just  _ living. _

 

Loki swallowed, trying to shove away the thoughts. He wasn't feeling homesick for Vanaheim. He missed his family. That was something he'd known already, but being here felt as though he was brushing against raw nerves.

 

_ “Faðir?”  _ Hel asked, glancing back. He must not have schooled his expression well enough, judging by the concern in her voice. 

 

“Apologies, I was caught up in reminiscences,” he explained. 

 

Tony's fingers snaked between his own and squeezed.  _ You're not alone, _ the gesture seemed to say. 

 

_ I know,  _ he squeezed back.

 

“The house!” Fenrir whooped and ran ahead of the group as soon as the cottage came into view. 

 

It had been lovingly woven into the side of a hill, an ancient tree offering its roots and branches to help support the walls and roof. 

 

“Are all the buildings like this, here?” Peter asked, picking up his pace for the chance to examine it that much sooner.

 

“Be careful!” Sigyn called after them. “Remember that that Váli is hopefully nearby!”

 

Her warning convinced Peter to slow, but Fenrir continued charging on ahead.

 

Instinctively he pulled his hand free from Tony's and raced after his son. If Váli was nearby, he wanted to find him first. 

 

Between one breath and the next his form melted and shifted. He couldn't outpace Fenrir with two legs, but as a horse? Even with his son's head start Loki was confident he could beat him to the cottage like that. 

 

He barely managed it, and swinging himself in front of Fenrir's path only caused them to collide and tumble to the ground in a heap.

 

“What the fuck?” Fenrir snapped, dragging himself to his feet. 

 

Loki's form shifted again, this time taking on the appearance that Váli would recognize, scars and all. He pushed himself back up from the ground, brushing dirt from his tunic. “We can't just go charging in, Fenrir. A modicum of restraint is needed here.”

 

Fenrir licked at his nose before jerking his head towards the cottage. “I can smell him in there.” He sniffed more pointedly. “The curse is still on him.”

 

“Fuck.” He'd known it was too much to hope that they'd managed to unravel the curse entirely. “Ok, wait here for the others.”

 

“What?” Fenrir hissed. “You get to go alone, but I can't?”

 

“Yes, because I'm your  _ faðir  _ and it's my job to keep you safe. And because I can defend myself.”

 

Despite his mutterings that this was “Bullshit,” and “Unfair,” Fenrir sat down. “If I hear fighting, I'm coming in.”

 

“Noted,” Loki ran a hand between Fenrir's ears before moving quietly to the door.

 

The cottage was surprisingly unchanged, Loki noted. Barely any dust had collected–someone was probably being paid for the upkeep–and their children's belongings still cluttered much of the free space along the walls. Wooden ships, soft dolls, toy weapons and a few carefully stored real weapons.

 

The larder and kitchen both looked as though someone had rummaged around, searching for food. Rows of bookshelves looked untouched. Fuck, he should have been visiting here for salvageables. 

 

He listened carefully for movement as he checked the bedrooms he passed. Nothing of interest in the master bedroom, for keepsakes or otherwise. What had been Hel's room was undisturbed. As was the room that Fenrir and Jǫrmangandr had shared (much to the complaints from both of them). 

 

He still couldn't hear anything, but there was only one room left. Narfi and Váli's bedroom. Loki opened the door slowly.

 

There he was. He didn't appear to have aged since Odin cursed him, but he looked too small, too thin, too pale. And when Váli glanced up from the design in the quilt he was sitting on, his eyes were all wrong. Instead of the pale blue that should have been looking back at him, they were pitch black from his pupils to his sclera.

 

_ “Hi, Váli,” _ he whispered, abandoning the AllSpeak to properly speak to Váli in his native language as he eased his way into the room.  _ “It's me. It's Faðir.” _

 

Váli blinked, but otherwise remained motionless as Loki approached. 

 

_ “I'm sorry I didn't come looking for you sooner, Sunbeam.” _

 

Something that might have been recognition flickered on Váli's face for just a moment at the pet name, and Loki held his breath. 

 

But his expression dulled again and Váli stood up on the bed, a bow and arrow made of white energy formed in his hands and he took aim.

 

_ Shit. _ Loki tapped into the spark of Tony's  _ Seiðr _ that lived within him now and threw up a barrier at the last moment. While the first arrow glanced off, the next one left a crack in the barrier. Loki darted from the room and heard his spell shatter as it was struck a third time. 

 

“Still trying to kill me!” He announced as he raced out of the door. 

 

“What happened?” Sigyn asked.

 

“No time.” Fenrir's body lowered as Váli walked towards them.

 

“He's so small,” Peter gasped. “What is he, eight?”

 

Before anyone could respond, Váli had loosed four more arrows, forcing their group to scatter.

 

“Kid, we don't want to fight you!” Tony's voice rang out from the speakers in his Iron Man suit.

 

“I don't think he cares.” Hel summoned a pillar of ice to block an arrow from hitting Fenrir.

 

Loki ran to the side. He had to get close, but running straight for Váli would be a death sentence. “Distract him!” He yelled out.

 

Váli tracked his movements. Apparently he was more interested in targeting Loki than anyone else. That was fine, he could be the distraction for the moment. He just had to hope the others caught on.

 

Peter must have at least noticed Váli's focus, because within a few seconds the boy was on the ground, covered in Spider-Man's webbing. 

 

“Yes,” he breathed. He could get close, now.  _ “I've got you, Váli.” _

 

He'd spoken too soon. Váli struggled against the webs for only a few moments before realizing he couldn't break free. But as a giant red wolf had no such issues.

 

“Oh, fuck off!” Fenrir growled, rushing forward and getting his fangs around the back of Váli's neck, shoving him to the ground. 

 

Váli's body burst into flames and Fenrir yelped as he backed off, dragging his muzzle against the grass to put out his fur. “Váli, I love you, but as soon as you're back to normal I'm going to kick your ass!”

 

“Fen!” Hel chastised, pelting her youngest brother with balls of ice that melted before they could strike him, sizzling and streaming into the air.

 

Iron Man's chains didn't fare any better against the heat of Váli's flames.

 

When one of Peter's electrified webs struck Váli in the chest, he finally turned his attention towards the boy instead.

 

Fighting while trying to avoid injuring their target was harder than Loki had expected. More than once they'd think they had Váli somewhat pinned down, only for him to shift back to his childlike form to become a smaller target.

 

It was hard not to feel at least a little bit proud of how well his son seemed to have mastered that particular bit of shapeshifting, even though Loki knew it was likely only because of Odin's curse.

 

“I've got an idea!” He heard Peter call out, but Loki didn't have time to see what he was doing before another volley of arrows was loosed in his direction. 

 

Peter's next web was glowing a brilliant gold as it wrapped around Váli, dropping him to the ground. His son let out a feral howl as he struggled against his bindings. Loki waited for him to shift again, but when he didn't he chanced a glance back towards Peter.

 

Recognition clicked in his mind when Loki saw Peter standing next to Sigyn. It was Sigyn's  _ Seiðr _ that he saw glowing on Peter's webbing. They had bound both Váli and Odin's magics.

 

Loki dropped to his knees beside Váli and pulled the boy into his arms.  _ “I've got you, it's going to be ok,” _ he whispered. 

 

Moments later Sigyn dropped to the ground beside him, wrapping her arms around the two of them. 

 

Váli struggled and snarled but still they held their son close and whispered assurances as they worked, piecing out the threads of Odin's curse and tearing it apart at the seams. 

 

He didn't know how much time passed. He didn't know what anyone else was doing. All of his awareness was zeroed in on his son and saving him.

 

Hours might have passed, or maybe only minutes, but eventually a quiet hoarse voice spoke from between them.  _ “Faðir? Móðir?” _

 

Loki felt more than heard Sigyn's broken sob from next to him. “Hi, baby,” she managed as she ran a hand through Váli's hair.

 

“ _ Why're y’crying _ ?” He slurred before his blue eyes slid closed.

 

There was a moment of panic until Loki realized that he was still breathing. Deep and even breaths that signaled nothing but  _ sleep _ .

 

“Did it work?” Hel asked, biting at the edge of her fingernail.

 

“He's ok.” Loki was crying now, too, and couldn't find it in himself to care. “Just asleep,” he assured himself as much as them.

 

Fenrir collapsed on the ground nearby. Part of Loki wanted to follow suit, but he was certain that as soon as he relaxed, he'd lose what little hold over his glamour that he had left. 

 

Unraveling the curse had been exhausting in a way that nothing else had ever been. He was drained and relieved and elated all at once.

 

But dropping his glamour in the middle of Vanaheim, especially so near the palace, would lead to more chaos than even he could handle right then.

 

Peter edged closer to get a better look at Váli. “He looks a lot like you,” he said quietly. “Er, how you look right now, at least.”

 

Loki smiled to himself. “That's not…” That wasn't really how the genetics worked, but he wasn't sure offering that information to Peter right then was a good idea. He'd likely have far too many questions as he tried to piece together what that might mean. “A bit,” he agreed instead.

 

“So uh,” Tony had raised the faceplate of his armor, “are we just going to hang out around here for a while, or what's the plan?”

 

“The plan is to return home,” Loki said.

 

“You're leaving Váli's side so soon?” Sigyn asked.

 

“Excuse me?” Loki tensed. “I'm not leaving Váli  _ here _ . He's coming back to Earth.”

 

“ _ What? _ He's been cursed for hundreds of years, Loki. He needs to see a healer, at the very least. Which is something that neither you nor Asgard are able to provide.”

 

Loki growled softly, but before he could form a proper rebuttal, Tony interrupted. “Hey, hey. This might be a crazy idea, but for tonight, why don't you  _ both _ come back to Earth?”

 

“Why?” Sigyn asked.

 

“Because you both look like you're ready to keel over, that's why. And right now Váli's asleep, but trust me when I say that when he wakes up, he's going to want  _ both of you _ there.” Tony tapped out a sequence in his chest so that his armor retreated back into his Arc Reactor. “And he's definitely not going to want to wake up to the two of you fighting.” 

 

He looked down at the sleeping child in his arms. “He's right. About the fighting. And needing both of us. Please come back with me.”

 

“This was your home, too, Loki. Would staying here for a few days truly be so bad?”

 

_ Not exactly,  _ he didn't say. If his grip on the last dregs of his magic hadn't been so tenuous, it might have been nice to stay for a day or so. Especially if Tony stayed with him. “It's…”

 

“Do you really think Váli would want to wake up surrounded by a bunch of healers,  _ Móðir?”  _ Fenrir grumbled. 

 

Sigyn glanced up at Hel, who only shrugged apologetically. “I'd also prefer we return to Earth. We can rest somewhere quiet, there. You said yourself that Vanaheim is still struggling after Asgard's destruction. Do you really want to add the sudden return of their prince?”

 

“Fine, I know when I'm outnumbered,” Sigyn said as gracefully as she could, standing back up. “At least let me carry him, Loki. You really do look like you might collapse.”

 

Loki only hesitated for a moment before passing Váli into Sigyn's arms.

  
  


**Tony**

 

Honestly, Tony was more than a little surprised that Loki hadn't lost his glamour completely. He wondered if between the practice he'd gotten and the addition of Sigyn's magic that was enough to keep from draining him as thoroughly.

 

Except he was unsteady on his feet, and Peter and Hel were quick to help prop him up. 

 

“Rest,  _ Faðir, _ Fen and I can get us back,” Hel promised quietly. 

 

Loki must have taken her at her word because this trip through the Realm Between Realms felt  _ different _ . Rather than a fluid flow through non-space, this felt jerky and uncertain. And while he couldn't understand what Hel or Fenrir were saying to each other, he could recognize an argument when he heard one.

 

It was with a giant sigh of relief that he opened his eyes again as his penthouse formed around him.

 

However, it was absolutely no relief when he saw that someone was already in the room. 

 

“What the fuck are you doing back already?” Wade yelped from where he stood next to the elevator.

 

“What the fuck are you doing here at all?” He hissed back, careful to keep his voice from rising.

 

“I hadn't left yet.”

 

“What?” Peter stepped away from Loki and pulled off his mask to give Wade a confused look. “You just stayed here the whole time?”

 

“No. Well, yes but. Ugh. JARVIS, how long were they gone?”

 

“They were gone from The Tower for exactly one minute and 48 second,” JARVIS explained.

 

“So, yeah, I didn't leave immediately. I moped for a minute, I admit it. But I didn't like… camp out up here or anything creepy.”

 

“Interesting,” Hel noted. “We were in Vanaheim for, what? An hour?”

 

“If that,” Tony agreed.

 

He watched as Hel lead Loki over to the couch and helped him to sit down.

 

“Oh, that's him, right?” Wade's eyes fell on the small boy being held in Sigyn's arms and he tensed.

 

“Yeah,” Peter crossed the room quickly, grabbing Wade by the wrist. “Hey, let's go home, okay? I need to call May and apologize for freaking her out, probably. And it's been a rough hour for them, so…”

 

“So we're making ourselves scarce?”

 

“Yep.” Peter raised his hand in a wave as he lead Wade to the elevator. “I'll check in tomorrow.”

 

Tony let out a long breath. He'd need to figure out a way to thank Peter for diffusing that situation before it could even think about igniting. 

 

“The spider-welp has a good point,” Fenrir said, stretching out, his claws leaving thin scratches on the stone tile. “I'm exhausted.”

 

“Ah, yes, as am I.” Hel yawned and Tony wasn't really sure if she was trying to wink at him, or was only blinking.  _ “Móðir,  _ we should take Váli downstairs for now. We all need rest.”

 

Sigyn allowed Hel to gently guide her towards the elevator.

 

_ “Móðir  _ still doesn't know about  _ Faðir  _ being a Giant,” Fenrir muttered after the elevator door closed. “Make sure she doesn't find out.”

 

Fenrir’s threat was hardly subtle, and all Tony could to do was give him a thumbs up once he turned around to look at him after the elevator returned to their floor.

 

“You keep an eye on Váli and Hel, and I'll take care of Loki. Deal.”

 

The god's wolven grin was unmistakable.

 

“Hey, Loki, you ok?” Tony asked, sitting down on the couch. He reached up and brushed a lock of braided hair behind his shoulder. “We're alone now, you know.”

 

Loki didn't say anything, but his distressed expression spoke volumes.

 

“JARVIS, keep a close eye on Váli, any and all extra resources go to monitoring him, got it? You let us know if  _ anything _ changes in his condition.”

 

“Understood, Mr. Stark.”

 

“Great. Also, lock down the floor. No one in here without my express permission, outside of emergency protocol M18.”

 

“What's M18?” Loki asked.

 

“If one of us is dying and there's no way to save us outside of violating the lockdown.” He ran his hand up and down Loki's arm. “Hey, we're alone. No one else. You can do whatever you need to do, ok?”

 

“I can, can't I?” Loki sounded amused for a moment.

 

Usually Tony preferred to look away when Loki shapeshifted, but right then he  _ knew _ it was important that he didn't do that. Loki was, for whatever reason, still hiding this from Sigyn, and Hel and Fenrir had worked to allow him this secret without having to be asked. To them, this was a secret worth hiding.

 

So Tony held Loki's eyes as they changed from green to red, and watched as his skin turned blue and raised markings decorated his face. He could only blink as he realized that Loki hadn't hidden his scars away like he usually did. The one under his eye was harder to see, but the small ones that dotted around his lips stood out in pale relief. 

 

The shift took barely a second and as soon as he was done Tony leaned forward and kissed the god, hoping that the action could get across even a fraction of the love and acceptance he felt for him.

 

Cold fingers cupped the back of his neck and Loki deepened the kiss. Everything about it was too cold, but Tony just dug his fingers into the front of the gray tunic Loki was wearing. He refused to be the first to pull away.

 

“Tony, may I borrow a bit of your magic?” Loki asked, pulling back enough to properly face him.

 

“I don't know what that means.”  _ Loki wouldn't do anything to hurt me.  _ “But yeah, go for it.”

 

“An added benefit of linking our  _ Seiðr,”  _ Loki explained, running his thumb along the sigil on Tony's arm. “Is that when one of is weak, or drained, we can draw some energy from the other.”

 

There was an odd sensation of  _ loss _ , but it wasn't anything Tony could really quantify. A few seconds later Loki's body was, well, not warm, but it was a tolerable sort of cold. 

 

“Useful. Very cool. Can I–”

 

“Yes, you can study it later,” Loki smiled a bit at his excited expression, before curling up against Tony's side.

 

“You ok?” Tony asked, pressing a kiss into Loki's hair.

 

“I'm… Not really, no.” He admitted.

 

“No?” He couldn't keep the surprise from his voice. “Just tired, or…?”

 

Loki shook his head minutely.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

“I don't know.”

 

Tony ran his hand in soothing circles along Loki's back, careful to avoid the cursed mark along his spine. “Ok. Do you want to get some sleep?”

 

His suggestion was met with a frustrated whine. “It's…” Loki started. Apparently he did want to talk about it. “We won. Váli is alive and safe downstairs. I should be relieved. Beyond relieved.”

 

“You aren't?”

 

“I'm scared,” he confessed, hiding his face against Tony's chest. “This has been at the forefront of my mind for months. This is  _ centuries _ of pain and guilt. I should feel happy, but instead I just feel untethered. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't know how much, if anything, Váli is going to remember.” The body under his hand shuddered. “Am I going to have to explain what happened to his brother?” He whispered.

 

“I wish I had answers for you,” Tony would have dragged him even closer, if it were possible. He knew this wasn't something he could fix, but he so wanted to. “But I'll be right by your side for whatever happens. Does that help at all?”

 

“It's appreciated.” Which wasn't a  _ yes _ , but that was probably the best he could get. 

 

“Hey, when's the last time you slept?” Tony ran his fingers through Loki's hair, gently working through the tangles he found. “You're exhausted. And everything tends to start feeling insurmountable after staying awake for too long.”

 

“I suppose you're the expert on that.”

 

“Sure am. Now c'mon. Bed. Things will probably look at least a little bit less terrible in the morning.”

 

“Comforting,” Loki grumbled, but he allowed himself to be lead from the couch to their bed. 

 

Tony expected Loki to ask him to leave. Or to at least complain when Tony crawled under the covers beside him. 

 

Instead Loki curled up against him and nudged him until Tony got the hint and wrapped an arm around him and for good measure hooked a leg over Loki's, just to hold him that much closer.

 

Usually going to bed involved Tony fighting to drift off while Loki read beside him. Or Tony might pass out in a post-sex stupor. 

 

But tonight, for the first time in the 19 months since they'd starting sharing a bed, Loki drifted off to sleep in front of him.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To start, I'm gonna be all gushy and shit for a moment.  
> Y'all. Every single one of you who reads this.   
> You're my heroes. I've never finished ANY kind of project like this.  
> I started writing this fic back on June 1st, 2018. I have no idea why I started writing it on my dad's birthday, but here we are. 8.5 months later. 300k words.
> 
> And it's all thanks to you beautiful wonderful people. With your comments and kudos and unending support.
> 
> Y'all are the real MVPs.
> 
> I've met so many amazing people and friends thanks to this fic and my interactions with the FrostIron fandom. I'm a happier person. I'm pretty sure I'm even a better person.  
> I have a lot of emotions. <3
> 
> But that's enough out of me! (more gushing in the end notes, lol)

_ I want you for a lifetime _ _   
_ _ So if you're gonna think twice, baby _ _   
_ __ I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know

—Utada Hikaru,  _ Don't Think Twice _

 

When Tony woke the next morning, Loki was still asleep. Or, possibly, asleep again, judging by the pale skin of his shoulder. Unless the glamour could reassert itself while Loki slept? It was a deeply ingrained defense mechanism, so that seemed reasonable.

 

“Tony, I can hear you thinking.”

 

“Fuck, I hope not.” 

 

Loki rolled onto his back and gave Tony an amused look. “I didn't say I could hear  _ what _ you were thinking.” He reached up and ruffled Tony's hair.

 

“Stop that,” he tried to bat the hand away.

 

The hand stilled on the top of his head, but Loki didn't pull away. “What  _ were _ you thinking about so early in the morning?”

 

“Oh, uh. Whether or not you have to wake up to make yourself look human again.”

 

The god actually looked affronted by his statement. “I don't look human,” he insisted. “You humans look Asgardian.”

 

Tony shrugged. “So, same thing, right? We look the same.”

 

Loki huffed and released Tony's head. “Fine. If that's how you need to think about it.” 

 

“JARVIS, any change with Váli?” Tony asked as he stood and stretched.

 

“I would have informed you right away if there had been, Sir. Váli appears to be resting peacefully. Fenrir and Hel stayed awake looking after him last night.”

 

“Thanks, buddy. Still feeling like everything is awful, Loki?”

 

“More or less,” he admitted.

 

“Want to just bite the bullet and head downstairs, then?”

 

“Yes, although I don't know that I like that idiom in this instance.”

 

Tony gave him an apologetic look as he got dressed.

 

When they arrived downstairs the living room and kitchen were empty, but the door to one of the bedrooms was wide open. It wasn't hard to guess where everyone was hanging out.

 

Despite the events of the day before and having stayed up all night Fenrir and Hel both looked alert, and Hel was speaking.

 

“And then Fenfen's teeth snapped shut on Tyr's arm, biting it clean off!”

 

“Did you get enough sleep?” Sigyn asked from where she was laying on the bed next to Váli, interrupting Hel's enthusiastic story.

 

Loki only gave her a non-committal shrug. “How is he?”

 

“He's dreaming,” Fenrir slid off the bed so that Loki could sit next to his youngest son. “Little brat kicked me in the middle of the night,” his words held no heat or irritation. Rather, he sounded a little amused by it instead.

 

Tony leaned against the door frame while Hel explained that they'd been spending the morning talking to Váli and telling him stories from when they were younger. 

 

“I don't know if he can ever hear us, but it's nice to feel like we're doing  _ something _ to help.” Hel had her arms crossed over the edge of the bed and was resting her head on them. 

 

“It does,” Loki agreed. “What story were you telling when we got down here?”

 

“I was telling Váli about how Fen got trapped. Not so much that part, though. But I like how he took out Tyr's sword arm in the process.”

 

Fenrir hummed. “I didn't go down without a fight.” His tail thumped against the floor, and he looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

 

As Loki joined in, sharing his own stories from however-fucking-long-ago, Tony couldn't help but feel like he was intruding on something private. Something that was meant for the family in front of him, and not for anyone else.

 

But Hel was right, making himself feel useful was his go-to coping mechanism for a reason, after all. So he quietly stepped away and back towards the kitchen. 

 

He'd watched Loki often enough, he was pretty sure he could at least manage to make a simple breakfast. Toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon? That sounded decent. Maybe he could cut up some fruit? 

 

The toast was the easiest and the least likely for him to fuck up. He was poking at the bacon in the pan–save the eggs for last, those were the most finicky–when he heard someone else click into the kitchen.

 

“The fuck are you doing out here?” Fenrir asked, coming to a stop less than a foot away.

 

“Cooking?” Tony offered, gesturing to the toast and in-progress bacon. 

 

“No, dumbass. Out. Here.”

 

Tony frowned. “I, uh. You guys were all talking about stuff from, you know. Before. I didn't want to intrude on the family bonding stuff.” He shrugged and stared at the bacon as he flipped it over, paying it closer attention than was probably necessary.

 

Fenrir huffed and Tony could feel his breath against the back of his head. “You're overthinking shit.” The wolf stepped closer and jabbed him in the side with his nose. “Stop being so insecure, turn off the fucking stove, and get back in there.”

 

He met Fenrir's dark eyes and after a moment tentatively reached out and ran a hand over his coarse fur. “In a few minutes. I am actually hungry, you know. Plus, don't you growing giants need a ton of food to keep up your energy?”

 

Seeing a wolf roll its eyes was still something Tony was trying to get used to. In the next moment the wolf shifted into a not-technically-human form. “Move, I'll cook.” 

 

He didn't have much of a choice in the manner as Fenrir shoved him out of the way and took over. 

 

“Thank you.”

 

Fenrir grunted and pointed towards the door. “Yell if he actually does anything.”

 

Tony watched as the pinched look around Fenrir's eyes smoothed out as he focused on the food in front of him. The poor kid probably needed a moment or two to himself anyway.

 

Returning to the bedroom he settled down on the floor next to Hel. “Did I miss anything good?”

 

“All of our stories have been good,” Loki smirked, “and you missed several of them.”

 

“Damn,” Tony smiled back.

 

“We were talking about when the twins were born,” Sigyn informed him. “And Fenrir and Jǫrmangandr were disappointed that they weren't allowed to eat them.”

 

_ What the fuck? _ “Really?”

 

“I was disappointed too,” Hel whispered conspiratorially. “I was just better at hiding it.”

 

“Oh my God,” Tony laughed. “You sure stories about people wanting to eat him are going to make him want to wake up?”

 

“Why not, the story is funny now. After Faðir and Móðir explained the situation, we became excellent siblings.”

 

“Excellent might be overstating things,” Loki teased gently.

 

“Bit rich, coming from you,” Tony pointed out.

 

Hel joined him in grinning at Loki's annoyed expression.

 

“We probably could have been better about sharing your attention,” Hel admitted, her grin not fading.

 

“No we couldn't,” Fenrir disagreed, returning to the room with several plates piled high with food. “They were insanely needy.”

 

“They were babies,” Sigyn said incredulously.

 

“Yeah, insanely needy babies.”

 

Tony laughed and grabbed a few slices of toast. “Thanks for the food, Fenrir.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it.”

 

Once the plates were settled safely on the bed, Fenrir shifted back to his normal shape. Tony wondered if it was difficult to hold other forms, or if Fenrir just really didn't like posing as something humanoid. 

 

“When was the last time Váli ate, do you think?” Tony asked.

 

“I don't know.” Loki gave the boy a worried look.

 

“Gods can go a long time without food, though,” Hel mentioned. “Fenrir and I didn't eat during the time we were locked away. It's unpleasant, but not life threatening for us.”

 

“Wait, are you suggesting that it's possible he hasn't eaten anything for a few hundred years?” Tony asked.

 

“That would match up with him not aging,” Loki said quietly.

 

Hel sat up on her knees and stretched across the bed, holding out a strip of bacon towards Váli's face. “Hey, Váli. Wake up. You're missing out on eating all sorts of new and interesting animals,” she sang.

 

“Do you know how pissed I'll be if that works?” Fenrir scoffed around a mouthful of eggs.

 

Váli let out a small groan, his nose crinkling up at the smell of food.

 

“No fucking way.” Fenrir just stared, wide eyed, his mouth hanging open.

 

“So, how pissed are you?” Tony whispered.

 

“Not at all.”

 

“What's that?” Váli's voice was hoarse and shaky. His eyes blinked open but it didn't look like he was really able to focus on much of anything yet. For a moment Tony thought the kid's eyes were white before the light caught them and he could see a tiny hint of blue to them. It was more than a little bit unnerving, if he was being honest.

 

Loki and Sigyn both looked similarly stunned.

 

Hel was the first to properly recover. “It's bacon. It's… well, here, try some.” She carefully tore off a bite sized piece of the bacon and held it to Váli's lips.

 

Váli allowed himself to be hand fed and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “It's salty.” 

 

When he tried to sit up, he couldn't quite manage to hold his weight up on his arms, so Loki had to help him. 

 

Tony watched as Váli ate the food he was offered. The kid was smiling for the first time that Tony had ever seen. He even drank several glasses of water without complaining when his parents prompted him. 

 

He still got the impression that Váli was only mostly aware of what was happening around him. He'd occasionally stare off at seemingly nothing, only to startle back into focus a few moments later.

 

“You still tired?” Fenrir asked, his voice softer and kinder than Tony had thought possible.

 

“Yeah,” Váli rubbed his eyes.

 

“Aside from tired, how are you feeling?” Sigyn asked.

 

“I dunno. Fuzzy?” He closed his eyes and leaned more heavily against Loki. 

 

“Hey,” Hel reached over and slipped one of her hands under Váli's. “I know you're tired, Váli, but I've got one more really important question, ok. Can you stay with us for a moment more?”

 

Váli whined at her request. “I'll try.”

 

“Váli, what's the last thing you remember?”

 

His hand tightened around the glass of water in his hand. “I was at home. In me and Narfi's room.  _ Faðir _ came in. Then…” he trailed off and shrugged. “I woke up here.”

 

Loki swore quietly under his breath. “What do you remember before that?”

 

The boy opened his eyes and took another long drink. He stared down into the empty glass for several long moments before speaking. “I… I hurt Höðr. And Narfi.”

 

It was weird to feel even a moment of relief from a child's trauma. But Váli remembered. He  _ knew. _ They wouldn't have to shatter his innocence and break his heart themselves. Then Váli started crying, dismayed little whimpers, and every every thought of relief vanished. 

 

His glass fell from his hands and he turned and buried his face against Loki's chest, trying to hide away when he could no longer contain his sobs. 

 

Loki wrapped his arms around the shaking boy, holding him close as he cried. 

 

“I'm s-so s-s-sorry,” Váli choked out.

 

“It wasn't your fault,” Loki assured him, running his hand over Váli's back. “You didn't ask for anything that happened. You never wanted to hurt anyone.”

 

“But I did.” 

 

“No.” Váli jumped at Fenrir's forceful growl. “Odin used your body, but it wasn't  _ you,” _ he insisted.

 

Váli only shook his head furiously, his tiny fingers bunching up Loki's shirt.

 

Nothing anyone said seemed to do anything to help. It felt like a long time before Váli's crying subsided and his breathing started to even back out.

 

“He asleep?” Tony asked quietly.

 

Loki nodded and gave everyone pointed looks before jerking his head towards the door. 

 

Tony herded Fenrir and Hel through the door, ignoring their quiet protests.

 

“Kid's been through a lot, he needs his sleep,” he argued once they'd retreated to the living room.

 

“We'd let him sleep,” Hel insisted.

 

“And you two need a break, too. It's ok to take a few minutes for yourselves. Otherwise you're just going to burn out, and then how much good will you be for him?”

 

Fenrir opened his mouth to argue, but all three of their attentions were taken by the low growl from the doorway.

 

“Loki, you're being unreasonable. He's upset.” Sigyn was being walked backwards out of the room by an obviously pissed off Loki.

 

“Of course he's upset,” Loki hissed, pulling the door closed behind him.

 

“Woah, hey! Tony took a step towards them, trying to decide if getting between the two gods was a good idea or not. “What are you two fighting about?”

 

Sigyn spared Tony a glance. “There are spells that we could use to soothe Váli's mind. We could  _ help _ him.”

 

“He's had more than enough sorcery fucking with his mind for a lifetime, don't you think?” Loki's hands were balled into shaking fists.

 

“What I'm suggesting is completely different,” Sigyn huffed, straightening her back and glaring up into Loki's face. “I'm not suggesting we take control of him and make him  _ act _ happy!”

 

“Are you forgetting the whole conversation we had about using sorcery to fuck with people's minds?”

 

“No. And as we agreed, I haven't used spells or magic on any more humans.”

 

Tony took several more steps forward. “Any  _ more _ humans? Who were you casting spells on?” He demanded.

 

She waved a hand in his direction as if to shoo him off, earning herself a displeased noise from Loki. “A few days ago I cast a spell on Peter and Wade to help solve a conflict before it could escalate.”

 

Her tone was so dismissive that it made Tony want to snarl alongside his mate. “You  _ what?” _

 

Then, to Loki, “And you knew about it and didn't do anything? Or tell me?”

 

“I did do something,” Loki snapped. “And I didn't think I needed to bring more attention to what happened because I believed that Sigyn actually understood why it wasn't ok.”

 

Tony didn't like that answer. But he could be pissed and yell at Loki later–and he would. For the moment, Sigyn needed to be the focus of his attention.

 

Except he heard movement from by the couch and caught sight of Hel and Fenrir watching them. Their faces were drawn and their muscles were tensed. Fuck. Right. They were standing there watching their parents fight. The look on their faces felt too familiar for Tony's comfort.

 

“I'm sorry, but I don't understand,” Hel ventured. “Why cast a calming spell on Peter and Wade?”

 

“They were both very distressed after Fenrir threatened Wade and–”

 

“Are you shitting me?” Fenrir stalked away from the couch, baring his teeth. “After all the time you spent harping on and on about not using magic or spells on people without their permission?”

 

“That's different,” Sigyn sniffed.

 

“Why? Because you're the one doing it instead?”

 

“Yes! Because I know what I'm doing. They're mortal children and I know better.”

 

Sigyn's claim hung heavily in the air. Tony had to remind himself to shut his mouth once the shock of it wore off.

 

“What the actual fuck?” He asked, breaking the silence. Glancing over, Loki looked just as surprised and horrified as Tony felt. Good, he wasn't alone in it. 

 

He wrapped his fingers around Loki's wrist. “Ok, Loki, quick aside. 30 seconds, max.”

 

“What?” Loki blinked as he allowed himself to be pulled to the other side of the room. “You know she can still hear you over here, right?”

 

“I don't actually give a fuck. I'm just feigning being polite at this point. You have two minutes to get her to leave before I suit up and blast her the fuck out myself.”

 

Sigyn stared at them. “For what?”

 

“For thinking that this fucked up thought-crime style thing is even approaching okay! It's not.” He watched as she drew herself up to her full height, refusing to be intimidated. 

 

“You know, we've seen this shit before. An alien showing up and trying to tell Earth how much we'd benefit from their rule. Maybe you should try asking them how well that went.”

 

“I have no desire to rule you!”

 

“Right now, I'm going to call the difference between your viewpoints splitting hairs. You seem to think you have any sort of authority over how we should think or feel. That you know  _ better _ because… Why? Because you're a god?”

 

“That's right. I am a god, something you seem keen on forgetting. You want me gone? Fine. But I'm not leaving here without my son.”

 

“Yes, you are.” Fenrir's tail lashed from side to side as he moved until he was bodily blocking the door from Sigyn's sight. “I'm not ok with the idea that you want to fucking sedate Váli so that he's all calm and pliant and easy to deal with.”

 

“I don't want him to hurt!”

 

“None of us want him to hurt,  _ Sigyn.” _ Hel's voice was quiet and even as she spoke, although she practically spat Sigyn's name. “But that's part of being alive, and you don't get to take that away from him.”

 

“But none of the things he's upset about are his fault!” Sigyn sounded desperate as she sought Hel and Fenrir's understanding.

 

“Höðr and Narfi are still dead,” Loki said quietly. “And Váli was involved, even if he wasn't at fault.”

 

Tony could already picture how easily this argument could go in circles for hours. “Plus,” he said loudly. “The two minutes I gave you are up, so I'd recommend making a choice pretty fast here.”

 

Sigyn's eyes fixed on Loki's. “You _ can't _ keep me from our son.”

 

Loki's eyes narrowed as he crossed the room. “I'm not actually interested in keeping you from seeing him,” he explained as he stopped next to his children. “But as it stands, you're not welcome here. Not until you can understand why your attitude towards manipulating Váli's feelings are so abhorrent to us.”

 

She took a long moment to glance around the room. Sigyn must have decided that she was outmatched and schooled her expression. “Very well,” she huffed. Golden arcs of magic sparked in the air around her, contradicting her calm tone. “I will give your words their due, and then I shall return.”

 

With what Tony felt was an overly dramatic spin, Sigyn disappeared in a burst of golden feathers.

 

Tony blinked. He hadn't realized that Sigyn had retrieved the cloak from Váli. “So… we should call Thor about this, right?” He asked after Loki and his children had deflated. “Like, did we just start an intergalactic incident here? That sounded like a threat.”

 

“It's unlikely,” Loki offered. “Vanaheim isn't one to wage war lightly. They will seek to settle things peaceably, first.”

 

“Even if they think we're holding their prince hostage?”

 

Loki's expression tightened at his question. Tony had to push away thoughts about just how many raw nerves he'd accidentally brushed against.

 

“We're not holding him hostage,” Fenrir scoffed. He turned and nosed at the door before sighing. He only held his humanoid form long enough to turn the knob and was back to a wolf before the door finished opening. Fenrir curled up on the bed beside Váli, resting his head on his brother's chest.

 

Hel's eye was still wide, and she picked at the sleeve of her dress. “Did we used to think like that, too?” She whispered.

 

Loki gave her a sad smile and wrapped an arm around her back, leading her over to the couch to sit down. 

 

“You grew up surrounded by the idea that you are better than everyone else. Because of your station, your parentage, your divinity. Hundreds of years of being told that will tend to stay with a person.”

 

She glanced between them when Tony joined them on the couch, sitting on Loki's other side. “Were you the alien who tried to convince humans that they would benefit from being ruled?”

 

“I was, yes.”

 

Her lips quirked up in a smile and she looked between Tony and Loki again. “It looks like things turned out alright to me.”

 

Tony laughed at Loki's startled expression. He wasn't sure what Loki had been expecting from Hel's reaction, but it must not have been that. 

 

“A lot happened between then and now,” Tony explained. “Including him learning that humans are actually worthy of respect.”

 

Hel's amused expression faded after a moment, and she started chewing at her thumbnail.

 

“Hey, what's wrong?” Loki asked.

 

“A lot,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Váli's safe, right?” Tony briefly wondered if he was about to hear a rehash of the anxieties that Loki shared the night before. “And now I should be able to go in and out of Niflheim with no difficulty. I'm not trapped there any longer. I'm free.”

 

“That's good, right?” Tony leaned forward so that he could see her face better.

 

“Of course! It's wonderful. But now that Váli is here, I find myself  _ wanting _ to return to Helheim. The mortals there rely on me. I want to be sure that they're cared for.” She swallowed and dropped her hand to get lap. “I'm being stupid, aren't I?”

 

Loki pulled her into a hug. “Not at all. You're being incredible.”

 

Hel returned the hug. “I don't mean that I'd leave right away,” she explained. “In a few days or so? I want to help Váli feel settled, first.” Tony could see the grin crossing her features. “I can't wait to tell Odin about all that's happened.”

 

“I'm sure he'll be thrilled by the news,” Loki laughed.

 

“If I go… I can still come back and visit, can't I?”

 

“I'd be hurt if you didn't,” Tony assured her. The uncertainty in her voice hit too close to home, and something painful twisted in his chest.

 

“You're always welcome here. For as long you want to stay.” Loki promised.

 

Hel finally relaxed into the hug and just allowed herself to be held. “Thank you,” she whispered after a few quiet minutes. “I'm gonna join the boys and see if I can't get some sleep, ok?”

 

Tony and Loki watched as she crawled into the bed, shifting until she found a comfortable position around her brothers. Fenrir's side was rising and falling steadily, and he didn't seem bothered by her jostling the bed. 

 

He was pretty sure Hel fell asleep just moments after she fell still.

 

“Poor kids were exhausted,” Tony mused.

 

“This has been hard for everyone.” Loki leaned back into the couch and laced his fingers between Tony's.

 

“Yeah.” Tony leaned over and pressed a light kiss to Loki's shoulder. “This isn't how you saw this morning going, is it?”

 

“Not by half, no.”

 

“Better or worse than you thought?”

 

Loki hummed. “Both, honestly.”

 

Tony nodded. That made sense. He opened his mouth to ask,  _ What's next?  _ when he realized why he needed to ask it at all. They had never actually talked about what might happen after saving Váli.

 

_ Well, we have to talk about it now. _ “What do you think about Fenrir and Váli moving upstairs with us?”

 

“I don't think Fenrir would be thrilled about being asked to share a bedroom again.”

 

“Well, right now he's not thrilled about leaving Váli's side, either. But if he doesn't want to share a room, it's not like this floor is going anywhere.”

 

Loki's grip tightened on his hand as he glanced at the bedroom. “What if he doesn't want to stay?”

 

“I'm sure as fuck not going to try to make him,” Tony said before realizing that Loki wasn't worried about Fenrir feeling trapped. 

 

“He might not want to,” Tony amended gently. “He's all grown up–I think. He can fend for himself and all that. But that doesn't mean he's not still going to want to spend time with his dad.”

 

“I wouldn't know the feeling,” Loki admitted.

 

“Me either. Not really. But Fenrir's got a much better father than either of us had.”

 

Loki kissed him. It was a soft chaste kiss that Tony smiled into. 

 

“You're actually ok with my children living with us?”

 

Honestly, Tony was used to new additions suddenly living at The Tower by now. And sure, this suggestion was a bigger deal than just letting someone new stay in the building, but still. It was Loki's children. 

 

“Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?”

 

“Because you aren't generally happy with people invading your space.”

 

“That's different. Plus, I mean he's only–. Ok, I know he's not  _ actually  _ 8, but he's very small. And he's been through a shit ton. And, full offense, your ex is a psychopath. Or at the very least she's a narcissist by human standards.”

 

“Less so by the standards of Vanaheim, but your point is taken.”

 

“So yeah. I'm ok with them living with us.” Tony reached up and cradled the side of Loki's face. “If they want to be here, then I want them here,” he said seriously.

 

Loki's eyes brightened and he leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. “Tony, I. Thank you.” The god let out a thin relieved laugh and closed his eyes. 

 

“Everything is going to be ok.” Tony shifted until he could pull Loki closer and wrap his arms protectively around him. “Whatever happens from here, we'll manage to figure something out.”

 

“Could I–” Loki faltered, cutting himself off.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Nevermind. I know you're not a fan of my shapeshifting.”

 

“Fuck that. Do whatever you want to do to make yourself feel better.”

 

He knew offers like that tended to be like playing with fire. But he was sick of Loki being made to feel like he needed to be anything but himself. Or herself. Or themself, depending on where Loki fell on the spectrum at any given time. 

 

Still, while Tony hadn't been sure what to expect, he was still surprised when Loki shrank and shifted until a small black cat was curled up in his lap. 

 

“Oh.” Tony blinked, picking Loki up. “Oh my God, you're adorable.”

 

Even as a cat Loki managed to look unimpressed. “You've never held a cat before, have you?” 

 

“No,” Tony admitted, setting Loki back down and watching him settle in his lap. He ran his fingers through the short soft fur along Loki's back. “Does this shape really make you feel better?”

 

“It's not the shape so much as…” Loki's tail twitched from side to side. “Could you lay back?”

 

Tony gave him a questioning look but did as he asked, trying not to jostle the cat in his lap any more than necessary. As soon as he was on his back Loki slinked up and laid down on his chest. 

 

“Ah, ok. I get it.” Tony resumed petting Loki, and scratching behind his ears. 

 

“I love you,” Tony whispered as Loki's eyes slid closed and he relaxed under his hands.

 

Loki gave him several slow blinks and purred in return.

 

* * *

 

Several hours later Fenrir and Hel woke from their nap. While Loki had drifted in and out of sleep, Tony had laid awake. It had been a long time since he'd been able to lay quietly with his thoughts, but between the gentle weight of cat-Loki on his chest, and the sounds of relaxed sleep from the other room, he found his mind didn't try to spiral into catastrophic  _ what ifs. _

 

“Are you two doing alright?” Hel asked. She leaned over the back of the couch and held her skeletal hand near Loki's head until he stretched to rub his cheek against her fingers.

 

“I'll admit that I've been better.” Loki leapt to the floor and returned to his usual form. “But I've also had much worse days.”

 

“So, comparatively, you're doing good?” Tony asked, working the joints that had gone stiff from laying still for so long.

 

“Comparatively,” Loki agreed. “Although some truly terrible things could happen and it might still be a net “good” by that way of thinking.”

 

Fenrir barked a laugh before going quiet, his ears shifting. “Oh, Váli's waking back up.”

 

Váli took the news of Sigyn's departure better than Tony had expected. Maybe it was just one more hurt to add to an already too large pile. Or maybe he'd just been expecting people to abandon him.

 

Or maybe Tony really needed to work on keeping himself from projecting his own anxieties and insecurities on others.

 

The extra sleep seemed to do the kid some good. He was able to sit up on his own now, and even managed to stand and walk a few unsteady steps before Loki had to balance him.

 

“Is that normal?” Tony asked.

 

“How should we know?” Fenrir paced back and forth while Loki helped Váli in the restroom. “It's not like this has ever happened before.”

 

“But he's recovering quickly enough.” Hel's voice was a bit more high pitched than usual. “So, he'll probably be fine.”

 

“I can hear you!” Váli called from the restroom. His tiny voice sounded so indignant that Tony couldn't help but chuckle.

 

“Sorry,” Hel offered when Váli and Loki returned to the bedroom. Loki looked amused, which settled Tony's nerves, at least a little.

 

Loki and Fenrir made lunch. Tony, who usually didn't eat two meals so close together, just picked at the lightly steamed vegetables and ignored the protein altogether. 

 

After eating they told the godlings what they'd discussed and about the plan to have Váli stay upstairs.

 

Fenrir muttered something about being glad that he wasn't expected to share a bedroom again. 

 

Still, it was no surprise at all when Hel and Fenrir followed them upstairs that night and refused to leave Váli's side. 

  
  


**Loki**

 

“I can't believe you tried to sell me on the idea that giants aren't nurturing,” Tony teased as Loki pulled his shirt off.

 

He rolled his eyes and lightly threw his shirt at Tony's face. “Because we're not.”  _ We. _ It still felt strange to think of himself as a giant. But one look at his children made the fact undeniable. He was a fool for never recognizing it sooner.

 

“Mmhmm?” Tony tossed the shirt to the floor. “What do you call that behavior?” He challenged, gesturing in the direction of the other bedroom.

 

“There are exceptions to every rule,” Loki admitted. “You have a very small sample size, and none of the three of us were truly raised as giants.”

 

“So it's a nature/nurture thing.” 

 

“Possibly.” Tony smirked at Loki's tentative admission.

 

As soon as Loki laid down, Tony scooted across the bed to press himself against Loki's side, covering Loki with as much warm skin contact as he could manage.

 

“Fuck,” Tony muttered.

 

“What's wrong?” 

 

“Just realized that having kids up here is going to seriously cut into our sex life.”

 

Loki blinked owlishly for a moment before he started laughing so hard he curled up on himself.

 

“I'm sorry,” he gasped out at Tony's affronted look. “But Tony, do you honestly think your parents quit fucking when you were born?”

 

He only laughed harder at Tony's disgusted expression. “Of course not,” he grumbled. “But I didn't have super hearing like your kiddos, either.”

 

Loki pushed himself up on his elbows and fixed his human with a wide grin. “I guess that just means you'll have to be quiet, then, doesn't it?”

 

Tony whined as Loki shoved him flat on his back. “All the time?”

 

“Don't be so dramatic,” Loki scolded, “of course not. I like hearing you too much. There are spells that we could use to keep our activities from being heard.”

 

“Oh.” Tony blinked. “And we're not using them now, because?”

 

“Because I'm not an encyclopedia. I don't actually remember every single spell I've come across.”

 

“But you could find it?”

 

“It will likely take me several days, but yes. I can find it.”

 

“So, in the meantime?”

 

“In the meantime you can either do your best to stay quiet, or do without.”

 

Although Tony gave him his best pout, they both knew when option he would pick.

 

“Of course, you're terrible about staying quiet,” Loki continued, rolling over so that he could straddle Tony's legs. “Maybe I should gag you.”

 

Tony's brow furrowed at the suggestion. “I can be quiet.”

 

“I don't know…” Loki trailed off. His hands spread out over Tony's chest, and he enjoyed how well he could feel the man's heartbeat like that. He circled Tony's nipple with his thumb, massaging and toying with the nub until it stiffened under his touch.

 

He was careful when he took hold of the metal bar that pierced the sensitive flesh and tugged. Tony's initial reaction was just wide eyed confusion until Loki increased the pressure and he let out a noise of discomfort from the back of his throat.

 

“Already making noise,” Loki chided. He pulled just that little bit harder. This wasn't about pain, after all. He didn't want to hurt Tony, not yet. This was about  _ pushing. _ His human closed his eyes and took several slow breaths. It took longer than Loki had expected before he caught the scent of  _ fear. _

 

“Good boy,” he praised, releasing the piercing. 

 

Tony gasped in relief. Along with the fear had come his unmistakable arousal. Loki braced himself on one hand so that he could lean down and kiss his mortal while he gave his other nipple the same treatment. 

 

He wasn't as good about staying quiet that time, and whimpered into Loki's mouth. Loki nipped at his tongue to scold him, but didn't relent. He kept up his torment until that spark of fear returned, and only then did he let go.

 

Loki rolled his hips and smiled as he felt just how hard Tony was already. He wondered what it said about Tony that the line between fear and sex were so blurred. Not that it mattered, of course. The situation suited Loki just fine.

 

“I love you,” he murmured, mostly because he enjoyed the warm smile that his words evoked. And also because it was true. He loved this ridiculous self-sacrificing human and the way he tried to take everything in stride. Tony had had no way of knowing the sort of baggage he was attaching himself to with Loki, but he'd never shied away from any of it. 

 

“Love you, too,” his human said before pulling him down for another kiss. 

 

After several minutes of slow lazy kisses Tony squirmed impatiently and dug his fingernails into Loki's back.

 

“Do you need something, Love?”

 

“I'm horny and I've missed you and I kind of thought we were going to  _ do _ something,” he hissed.

 

“We are doing something,” Loki teased, leaving a trail of quick kisses down the side of Tony's face before pulling his earlobe between his teeth. 

 

Tony gasped and his hips bucked up. “Please?”

 

“Begging already? But we've barely started.” 

 

“I'm not begging,” Tony corrected. “But I will if that's what you want.”

 

“Isn't it hard to beg when you're supposed to be being quiet?”

 

Tony's eyes widened pleadingly, and his fingers clung to Loki's back. He pushed his hips up and rutted desperately against him.

 

Loki pushed himself up so that he could give Tony proper consideration. For Tony it had been a week since the Solstice. And while he was doing his best to just go along with everything that had happened over the last few days, that didn't mean he wasn't struggling to process it. 

 

“Well, if you're going to ask so sweetly, I suppose I can fuck you.” 

 

When Tony whispered, “Thank you,” that was all the confirmation Loki needed. If his human needed to submit and stop thinking, then Loki would provide.

 

“From now on, you don't speak unless I ask you a question, or you need to use your safe word. Do you understand?”

 

Tony swallowed and nodded. “I understand.”

 

Loki smiled as he shuffled them, maneuvering Tony's body as he needed until he could settle between his legs. 

 

“We’re going to try something new,” he informed Tony. “And I think you'll either love it, or you'll hate it. I'm excited to see which.”

 

His human's eyes went wide, but it was as much curiosity as it was trepidation. Good. 

 

He wasted no more time before pressing two slick fingers into Tony's hole and thrusting, working him open until the muscles started to relax around him. 

 

It wasn't quite enough he knew, but that was the point. Tony opened his mouth to say  _ something  _ when he lined up, but instead bit his lip.

 

“Very good,” he praised. He pushed in slowly, giving Tony as much of a chance as he could to feel every inch of his cock as it held him open. 

 

Tony was biting his lip harder and had dug his fingers into the bedding under him. It took Loki a moment a realize that his human was doing his best to not make any noise at all, rather than simply not speaking.

 

“Are you in pain, Pet?”

 

Tony blinked a few times before shaking his head. 

 

“Would you like to be?”

 

More blinking and a steadying breath. “If you want to me to be.”

 

That was a good answer, Loki decided. He'd been expecting a more direct yes or no, but he could accept the indirect request just as well.

 

He started moving, thrusting as hard as he dared. He wanted to set Tony up for success, after all. It wouldn't do to jump straight into things that left Tony unable to stay quiet. 

 

It didn't take long before Tony was panting under him and doing his best to meet Loki's thrusts. 

 

Loki grinned at Tony's aborted whine when he pulled out completely. He looked so bewildered and frustrated that it was hard not to laugh. 

 

“I did say we were going to try something new,” he explained. He replaced his cock with two of his fingers and Tony just shifted, looking mystified.

 

But when he pressed the head of dick back against Tony's entrance, his human jerked back and clenched down around Loki's fingers.

 

He gave Tony a pointed look. “You can say no,” he reminded him firmly. 

 

Instead Tony spread his legs farther. Loki could taste the undercurrent of fear that pulsed through him, but it didn't stop Tony from closing his eyes and letting his head fall back. 

 

Loki's breath caught at the display of trust. He made him want to wrap Tony up in his arms and keep him safe. But it also made him want to sink his teeth into every sensitive spot he could find until Tony came. He let himself wonder for just a moment whether that was even something Tony  _ could _ come from.

 

He shook his head to clear those thoughts so he could concentrate on what was actually happening. He took his time as he lined himself back up and started nudging his way inside. 

 

When Loki was fully sheathed inside, Tony finally broke, and a whimper escaped him. 

 

“You're alright,” Loki assured him softly. He curled his fingers so that they could press against Tony's prostate.

 

Tony brought his hand up to mouth and bit down to stifle whatever words were threatening to come out.

 

Thrusting was a more awkward affair than Loki had expected and it didn't take long before he gave up. He withdrew his fingers and focused instead on the heat from Tony's body. 

 

He wrapped his hand around Tony's dick and started stroking in time with his thrusts. His human was managing to stay quiet again, and while Loki was very proud, he also found he rather missed the desperate noises he could usually draw from his lover.

 

“Do you want to come, Pet?”

 

Tony nodded fervently.

 

“I want to hear you say it.”

 

“Yes,” Tony whispered. “Yes, please, my god, I'm so close.”

 

Tony's words were like a punch to the gut followed immediately by an orgasm that took him completely by surprise in its intensity. He was distantly aware that he'd cried out as he'd tried to curl in on himself.

 

* * *

 

It didn't feel like waking up so much as being dropped back into awareness. Loki took stock of the situation as quickly as he could. He was on his side lying chest to chest with Tony.  _ Safe. _ They had both come.  _ Good. _ And Tony looked happy and relaxed.  _ Better. _

 

“I think I pissed off your curse.” Tony sounded apologetic despite his increasingly amused expression.

 

“That would explain why my back hurts, yes,” Loki drawled. The lower third of his spine ached and it occasionally felt like needles were digging into his skin. 

 

“So what are you looking so pleased about?” Loki asked.

 

Tony grinned. “After all the shit you gave me I was the one who managed to stay quiet.”

 

Loki huffed and used a spell to clean them up. “Go to sleep.”

 

His human shuffled closer until Loki draped an arm over him. Only then did he close his eyes and melt into the mattress. 

 

“You too,” Tony mumbled.

 

“Me too,” Loki agreed, relaxing against him. He tried not to think too much about the curse that was doing its best to weave ever tighter into him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mic drop*
> 
> That's it! That's the end! FBiNS everyone!
> 
> ...   
> ...  
> ...
> 
> Hahahaha. Naaawwww.  
> I mean, sorta. This was basically the intended ending. I say that. This story surprised me at every turn, NGL. I would think we were going one way, then BAM, something totally different! Amaze.
> 
> And we're at like, what? 300k words? Maybe I should stop it here?  
> But... I have more stories to tell.  
> So. Many.  
> So everyone buckle up for another 300k words, yeah?

**Author's Note:**

> For the curious, here's what the sigil looks like:  
> https://imgur.com/jR590ZZ
> 
>  
> 
> Tumblr: [@Wolfloner-Official](https://wolfloner-official.tumblr.com/)  
> Twitter: [@Wolfloner1990](https://twitter.com/Wolfloner1990)  
> Discord: Wolfloner#9177  
> [Frostiron Discord Channel](https://discord.gg/UYDkNYe)


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